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New Edition 

ADVENTURES OF LAFAYETTE 


Copyright 1929 

By Albert Whitman & Company 



OTHER 

ALBERT WHITMAN TITLES 


INSPIRING LIVES OF SIXTY FAMOUS MEN 

BY LENA C. AHLERS 
Illustrated by Benny Larson 


PLAYTIME ROUND THE WORLD 
BY FRANCES ELLEN FUNK 
Illustrated by Eleanore Mineah Hubbard 


A GIRL OF THE FOREST 

BY MARY EARLE HARDY 
Illustrated by Cora J. Cady 


‘JUST RIGHT BOOK’* 


INTRODUCTION 


Whenever one pauses to consider the 
period in early American history when the 
vigorous, manly figure of Lafayette made its 
appearance, one readily appreciates how 
clearly he belonged to that era of turmoil 
within France herself, of pioneering in the 
United States, of constant flux of political 
situations both in France and in the newly- 
formed states on the Atlantic Seaboard. One 
realizes too the gratitude on the part of these 
states for the interest this young Frenchman 
showed in the fledgling country of the New 
World, and the moral strengthening it re¬ 
ceived from intercourse between the two 
nations with Lafayette as the welding and 
combining force. 

He earned as a national figure in his own 
country and as a beloved visitor in ours, a 
reputation for warm-hearted interest in in¬ 
dividuals as well as states and nations. His 
friendship with Washington claims our affec¬ 
tion, his loyalty to him over a long period of 
years, our admiration, his earnestness and 
zeal in matters of politics our great respect. 
The first voyage to America was a bold, ad- 


7 


venturous move, typical of his great fearless¬ 
ness of mind. He was so impressed with the 
struggle the colonies were making for the 
establishment of freedom both individually 
and as a group, that he felt he must become 
acquainted with this situation. In fact, this 
love of freedom was the fundamental mo¬ 
tivating force of his entire life, giving him 
always a large and enthusiastic following. It 
carried him across the sea to America, it led 
him to offer his services to Congress to fight 
with the American troops. It led him back 
to France to give her Liberty, it dominated 
him through the stormy period of the French 
Revolution. It sustained him as a prisoner 
at Olmutz. It guided him in his contacts with 
Louis the Sixteenth and Napoleon Bonaparte 
on his return from the United States in 
October, 1825, the occasion of his second 
visit; and it made him an even greater hero 
than when he returned as a young Major- 
General at twenty one from the War of the 
Revolution. 

“Adventures of Lafayette ”—a book whose 
merit is unquestionable and whose historical 
background is accurate, will reach all young 
people, the mass of whom cannot help but 
gain immeasurably by acquaintance with a 


8 


remarkable international figure. One of the 
happy results bound to develop is that child 
readers will learn to know Lafayette as a 
man of ideals both toward his family and 
his friends. They will become acquainted 
with him as a soldier and statesman, and in 
the larger role of leader in politics, as a true 
politician; for such was his position in his 
time, a student and participator in the art 
and science of government. 

Both young and old will find that their 
innate love of and need for a hero will be 
satisfied by their knowledge and familiarity 
with the Marquis de Lafayette. They will 
draw as much inspiration from him as did 
his contemporaries and followers both in 
France and America during his long lifetime, 
always recalling him as one of the greatest 
exponents and champions of Liberty. They 
will be ready to understand and appreciate 
why his reputation has endured for over a 
century and why it will continue to live on 
wherever great leaders find their well-earned 
place in the march of history. 

Eleanor Gould 


9 














10 























TABLE OF CONTENTS 


Page 

Introduction . 7 

Escape From France... 15 

A First Battle. 27 

A New Command. 45 

The Two Alliances. 65 

Active Operations. 77 

Success the Reward of Patience. 89 

France as It Was. 99 

Changes.109 

Liberty in October.125 

Doubts.137 

A Lamentable Flight.149 

Trouble at Home and Abroad.162 

Exile .175 

The Family at Olmutz.189 

France Much Changed.202 

A New King of France.211 

Visit to the United States.218 

A Happy Home.232 

The Old Soldier.246 

11 






























LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Frontispiece—Lafayette . 4 

Landing of General Lafayette at Castle Garden, New York, 
16th of August, 1842. 14 

At length he asked permission to go where he saw the fight 
was hottest. 29 

With great quickness and with the best judgment, he re¬ 
arranged the troops, and the Americans gained a de¬ 
cided advantage... 55 

The French fleet arrived at the appointed time. 73 

On the 19th the army of Lord Cornwallis laid down their 
arms . 93 

On the 14th of July an armed crowd of volunteers attacked 
the Bastille.115 

The strange procession that set out at one o'clock.133 

On the 20th of June the king and his family escaped from 
the Tuileries. 151 

The little party had only reached Rochefort when they 
were stopped .177 

Lafayette must have felt the most intense delight when he 
saw his wife enter his cell.191 

The laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill Monument.. 229 

Lafayette gave him a tricolor flag, and led him to one of 
the windows... 241 


13 















14 


Landing of General Lafayette at Castle Garden, New York, 16th of August, 1824 










































































































































































































































































































































































































































































































adventures of 
Lafayette 


ESCAPE FROM FRANCE 

At the castle of Chavaniac, in the province 
of Auvergne which lies between the centre 
and the south of France, Lafayette was born 
on the 7th of September, 1757. His family 
had long been distinguished for courage and 
high spirit, and he inherited the rank of Mar¬ 
quis. His names were Marie-Paul-Joseph- 
Roch-Ives-Gilbert de Motier; but he seems 
never to have been called by or to have 
signed any of them. 

Little is known of his childhood. He never 
saw his father, who was killed at the battle of 
Minden, and his excellent mother died when 
he was eleven years old. He was at first edu¬ 
cated in the country among his relations, 
is 


16 


LAFAYETTE 


[1774 


then sent at the age of eleven to a college in 
Paris, and afterwards to the Academy of 
Versailles; but his studies must have come to 
an end early in life, as he was married at six¬ 
teen to his cousin, Mademoiselle Francoise 
Adrienne de Noailles. 

Probably, if his parents had been living, 
they would not have allowed so youthful a 
marriage; but, in spite of its imprudence, all 
ended happily for both parties. Madame de 
Lafayette was descended, like her husband, 
from a noble family, and had many charming 
and admirable qualities. They loved each 
other devotedly, and shared both pleasures 
and cares. 

From the time when he was a mere child, 
Lafayette recollected loving everything that 
was free. He liked high-spirited animals, and 
hoped to meet a hyena which had done some 
mischief in the neighborhood of his home; at 
school he was very unwilling to be forced to 
do anything,—he would work industriously, 
but could not bear the idea of any constraint. 
He liked to read and think of free nations, 
and managed to avoid a place at court which 
his wife’s family were very anxious to secure 
for him. 

On his first appearance in the distin¬ 
guished society which he went into on ac- 


Age 19] 


ESCAPE FROM FRANCE 


17 


count of his own and his wife’s connections, 
he did not make a particularly favorable im¬ 
pression. He was observing and rather silent; 
he did not enjoy the conversation he heard, 
and was thought very cold. He never could 
adopt what were called “the graces of the 
court,”—a kind of manner which was never 
seen in this country, and probably never 
will be. 

He went into the army, as almost all 
young men of rank did at that time in France. 

Lafayette was but nineteen years old 
when he first heard of the Revolutionary war 
in America. He was stationed at Metz on 
military duty, when the Duke of Gloucester, 
brother of the King of England, happened to 
come there. At a dinner given in honor of 
him, the conversation turned upon the rebel¬ 
lion of the colonies, and the king’s determina¬ 
tion to crush it. The idea of a nation fighting 
for freedom at once interested him; they were 
doing what he had read of and dreamed of. 
He asked questions, and from the Duke’s own 
account was disposed to believe that the 
Americans were in the right. Before he left 
the table, he thought how much he should 
like to go over to the United States, and give 
whatever help he could in so noble a cause. 
For several days this idea was constantly in 


18 


LAFAYETTE 


[1776 


his mind; he could not forget what he had 
heard, and dwelt upon it until he positively 
longed to be on his way. 

He went to Paris, and spoke of his wishes 
to a few persons; two of his young friends 
shared his enthusiasm, and would gladly have 
joined him, but were forbidden by their fam¬ 
ilies. Lafayette had a fortune of his own, but 
he knew that all his own and his wife’s rela¬ 
tions would oppose him. He also foresaw that 
the government might put some difficulties in 
his way, and he took for a motto, at this time, 
the Latin words, “cur non?” (why not?) One 
old friend of the family refused even to give 
him any advice, and' said to him, “I have seen 
your uncle die in the wars of Italy, I wit¬ 
nessed your father’s death at the battle of 
Minden, and I will not be accessary * to the 
ruin of the only remaining branch of the 
family.” Lafayette remained, however, per¬ 
fectly bent upon the undertaking, and made 
the acquaintance of Mr. Silas Deane, a com¬ 
missioner from the United States, by whom 
of course he was cordially received, for his 
rank and connections with the court would 
make his going to America an important 
event. Several other French officers wanted 
to go at this time, and Mr. Deane was trying 


* To be accessary is to help in any way, by word or act. 




Age 19] 


ESCAPE FROM FRANCE 


19 


to get a ship in which he could send them and 
some guns which he had bought for the 
United States army, when bad news reached 
Paris. The campaign * of 1776 had been un¬ 
successful for the Americans; Washington, 
with a very small army, had been compelled 
to retreat from New York through New Jer¬ 
sey. In Europe all hope was at once given up; 
the friends of America expected soon to see 
the power of Great Britain triumph over her 
feeble colonies. The Americans in Paris were 
extremely discouraged, and Mr. Deane told 
Lafayette the whole truth, advising him not 
to attempt to sail. Lafayette thanked him for 
his frankness, but said immediately, “Until 
now, sir, you have seen only my ardor in the 
cause, and that may not at present prove 
wholly useless. I shall purchase a ship to 
carry out your officers; we must feel confi¬ 
dence in the future, and it is especially in the 
hour of danger that I wish to share your for¬ 
tune.” 

It was now impossible for Mr. Deane to 
obtain a ship; Lafayette, therefore, bought 
one at Bordeaux, and had her fitted up for 
fighting, in case they should meet an enemy 
at sea. The preparations went on with per¬ 
fect secrecy, and he did not yet venture to 

* A single season of fighting, usually one summer. 





20 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


tell any of his family what he was doing. 

Just before he was ready to sail, he was 
obliged to go over to England, as he had 
promised to spend a few weeks there, and 
was afraid of exciting suspicions if he re¬ 
fused. He received a great deal of attention 
in London, and quite enjoyed the joke of 
dancing at the house of a general who had 
just returned from New York, and whom he 
afterwards came near meeting in a very dif¬ 
ferent scene. He was careful, however, to re¬ 
fuse invitations to visit the ships of war, and 
not to see any of the preparations made 
against the rebels. He did not think it honor¬ 
able to gain knowledge as a friend which he 
might be tempted to use as an enemy. But 
he openly expressed his sympathy with the 
Americans. On his return, he spent but a 
few days in Paris, and went to Bordeaux, 
hoping to sail immediately; but he found that 
his plans had become known to the govern¬ 
ment, and he was forbidden to go to America 
and ordered to go to Marseilles. He got his 
ship safely out of the harbor, and then went 
back himself and sent several letters to Paris; 
he wrote to the French ministers, * and to his 

* Persons who manage the business of a government, as the 
Minister of War, who attends to everything about the army, 
the Minister of the Marine, who controls all the ships, etc. 



Age 19] ESCAPE FROM FRANCE 21 

family and friends, whose regrets and re¬ 
proaches distressed him. Still he was perfectly 
firm in his decision and, as no answer came 
from the government during the next few 
days, he determined to take his own course. 

He set off with another young officer on 
the road to Marseilles, but after travelling a 
little distance disguised himself as a courier, * 
and rode back before the carriage. He had 
gone in safety about half the way, when a 
young girl, a postmaster’s daughter, recog¬ 
nized in the pretended servant the Marquis 
de Lafayette, whom she had seen near Bor¬ 
deaux. He made a sign to her not to betray 
him, and she not only kept silence herself, 
but prevented other people from suspecting 
who the courier really was. 

At last, on the 26th of April, 1777, Lafay¬ 
ette set sail for America. But his adventures 
were not over. The captain of the ship in¬ 
sisted upon stopping at the West India is¬ 
lands, which Lafayette was equally resolute 
not to do. After some time, he found out that 
the captain was anxious about a cargo he had 
on board, and promised that he should lose 
nothing by taking him directly to America. 


*A courier makes arrangements for people who travel in a 
carriage, or now-a-days in the cars. He provides fresh horses, 
engages rooms at hotels, and used to ride on the coach. 



22 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


The French government had, as he suspected, 
sent orders for his arrest to these isles, and if 
he had stopped there his voyage would have 
proved a long one. 

Every ship of war they met gave them a 
great fright, for they could have made but a 
poor resistance had they been attacked. After 
Lafayette recovered from sea-sickness, he 
employed himself in studying the English 
language and the art of war. And so seven 
weeks of discomfort, doubts, and hopes 
passed, and he landed in June at Georgetown, 
South Carolina. As his foot touched Ameri¬ 
can ground, he resolved in his heart to con¬ 
quer or perish in that cause which was so 
dear to him. He landed at night at Major 
Huger’s. * The family at first supposed he 
and his companions came from one of the 
enemy’s ships, but, on finding that they were 
French officers, received them with the great¬ 
est hospitality. 

The next morning Lafayette was 
delighted with the prospect from his windows 
and the beauty of the weather, while the 
house and the black servants coming to wait 
on him made him feel that he was in a 
strange, new world. He went immediately to 


* Pronounced Yougee. 



Age 19] 


ESCAPE FROM FRANCE 


23 


Charleston, and wrote to his wife that it was 
“one of the best-built, handsomest, and most 
agreeable cities” that he had ever seen. “The 
American women,” he says, “are very pretty, 
and have great simplicity of character, and 
the extreme neatness of their appearance is 
truly delightful; cleanliness is everywhere 
even more attended to here than in England. 
What gives me most pleasure is to see how 
completely the citizens are all brethren of one 
family.” . . . “The inns are very different 
from those of Europe; the host and hostess 
sit at table with you, and do the honors of a 
comfortable meal. If you should dislike 
going to inns, you may always find country 
houses in which you will be received as a 
good American, with the same attention that 
you might expect in a friend’s house in Eu¬ 
rope. My own reception has been particu¬ 
larly agreeable. I have just passed five hours 
at a dinner given in compliment to me by an 
individual of this town. We drank each 
other’s healths, and endeavored to talk Eng¬ 
lish, which I am beginning to speak a little.” 
. . . “The night is far advanced, the heat in¬ 
tense, and I am devoured by mosquitos; but 
the best countries, as you perceive, have their 
inconveniences.” 


24 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


Lafayette very soon, went on to Philadel¬ 
phia, to offer his services to Congress. He 
was at first received with a little coolness, 
which, however, did not disturb him much, 
as he was reasonable enough to see the cause 
of it. Congress was at this time beset every 
day by foreign officers eager for high rank in 
the Continental * army. That army was so 
small that it was impossible to find places for 
all the foreigners and keep any American 
officers at all; and the natives, who had borne 
the hardships of the first two years of the 
war, were extremely disgusted when Euro¬ 
pean officers were put above them in rank. 
At the same time, the foreigners were dissat¬ 
isfied with low places, because they said they 
had “seen service” abroad. Mr. Deane, in 
Paris, was apt to encourage Frenchmen to 
come over, thinking that their experience 
would be valuable to so young an army; but 
the numbers that flocked here were a sore 
trial to General Washington. 

Lafayette, not discouraged by the back¬ 
wardness of Congress to give him an appoint¬ 
ment, sent in by one of the members this 
little note: “After the sacrifices I have made, 
I have the right to exact two favors: one is, 
to serve at my own expense,—the other, to 


* This was the first name of the American army. 



Age 19] 


ESCAPE FROM FRANCE 


25 


serve as a volunteer.” * This style so dif¬ 
ferent from that of the gentlemen who 
demanded high rank and high pay, pleased 
Congress; the letters he brought were imme¬ 
diately examined, and he was appointed a 
Major-General. He did what he could for the 
officers who had come in the same ship 
with him. 

While he was in Philadelphia, at a public 
dinner Lafayette saw General Washington 
for the first time. He immediately distin¬ 
guished him, among many officers, by his 
majestic figure and dignified manner. Wash¬ 
ington was then forty-five years old, and in 
look and bearing exactly what one would 
wish to see a Commander-in-Chief. Lafay¬ 
ette was no less charmed with his cordiality 
than with his appearance. He expressed 
much interest in the young Marquis, and 
invited him to make his headquarters his 
home, saying, with a smile, that he could not 
promise him the luxuries of a court, but that 
doubtless he would cheerfully bear the priva¬ 
tions of an American soldier. 

The army was then stationed near Phila¬ 
delphia. Lafayette says of his first sight of 

* A volunteer is a person attached to the army by his own 
request. He receives neither rank nor pay, and may join any 
general he prefers. 



26 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


it: “About eleven thousand men, ill-armed 
and still worse clothed, presented a strange 
spectacle; their clothes were parti-colored, 
and many of them were almost naked; the 
best clad wore hunting-shirts,—large gray 
linen coats, which were much used in Caro¬ 
lina.” General Washington said to him, “We 
ought to feel embarrassed in exhibiting our¬ 
selves before an officer who has just left 
French troops.” “It is to learn, and not to 
teach, that I come here,” replied the Mar¬ 
quis ; and this pleasant, modest answer made 
him very popular. 

He had every reason to be satisfied with 
his reception. In the Commander-in-Chief he 
soon found a true friend; the soldiers were 
quite ready to admire him; and throughout 
the country great interest was felt in this 
enthusiastic young Frenchman, who had left 
his country, his home, his wife and friends, 
and all the pleasures he might have enjoyed 
at the French court, for the sake of joining 
the army of the United States; or, rather, for 
the sake of helping with his sword a people 
determined to be free. Lafayette took great 
pains to learn to speak and write English, 
and in every way to feel and think as an 
American. 


A FIRST BATTLE 

Lafayette arrived at a time of great 
uncertainty in the military movements. Sir 
William Howe had sailed from New York 
with his army, and no one knew where he 
was going. The American army was waiting 
near Philadelphia, ready to march to any 
place at which he might reappear. After 
many days of suspense, the ships were seen 
coming up Chesapeake Bay, approaching 
Philadelphia in a round-about manner. The 
Americans, although they were not in a very 
good condition for fighting, immediately 
marched to meet the enemy. The troops 
were new recruits, * not well drilled, but 
spirited and eager for an action. In fact, the 
whole country was then impatient to have a 

* Men who have joined an army, but have never been soldiers 
before. 


27 



28 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


regular battle fought; people at a distance 
did not understand how poor the army was, 
and grew tired of General Washington’s pru¬ 
dence and caution, which were in truth 
caused by necessity, and not at all agreeable 
to his disposition. It was fortunate for the 
Americans that Sir William Howe had 
wasted so much of the summer before open¬ 
ing the campaign. 

General Washington made some opposi¬ 
tion to the landing of the British, and the 
battle of the Brandywine, * the first in which 
Lafayette was engaged, took place on the 
11th of September. At first, success seemed 
to be with the Americans, but the firing was 
not very heavy; Lord Cornwallis, in the 
meantime, by marching seventeen miles, 
brought his troops up behind the Americans, 
and so separated parts of the army. The gen¬ 
erals were not informed of this manoeuvre f 
in time to make the best arrangements to 
receive him; and, though the young Ameri¬ 
can troops at first behaved with spirit, in the 
course of the day they gave way before the 
superior discipline of the British. 

*A river in Pennsylvania which flows into the Delaware, 
f A change of position in a company, regiment, or larger divi¬ 
sion. 




At length he asked 


permission to go 
was hottest. 


where he saw the fight 


29 
















































Age 20] 


A FIRST BATTLE 


31 


Lafayette as a volunteer remained for 
some time with the Commander-in-chief; at 
length he asked permission to go where he 
saw the fight was hottest. In the midst of 
great confusion, he was rallying the troops, 
when a ball wounded him in the leg. General 
Washington brought up some fresh soldiers, 
and Lafayette was preparing to join him, 
when loss of blood obliged him to stop and 
have his wound bandaged; he had not cared 
for the pain, but he could not afford to faint 
on horseback. As it was, he was in great 
danger of being taken prisoner. 

Night came on, and nothing more could 
be done. Men, cannon, wagons, baggage 
crowded along the road from Chad’s Ford to 
Chester, about twelve miles distant. At Ches¬ 
ter Lafayette made a great effort to stop this 
hurried and confused retreat. The Comman¬ 
der-in-chief and the other Generals arrived 
at the same place, and the remains of the 
army passed there the sorrowful night after 
the battle. At last Lafayette had time to 
have his wound dressed. 

The people of Philadelphia heard the fir¬ 
ing, although the field of battle was twenty- 
six miles from the city. The defeat of the 
army was a terrible blow to the Whigs; * 


♦Those who were opposed to Great Britain. 



32 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


whole families left their homes, expecting 
that the British would occupy the city during 
the winter. Congress sought a safer place of 
meeting at Yorktown, among the mountains. 

Lafayette was at first taken by water to 
Philadelphia, where he received the kindest 
attentions from some of the citizens who were 
not too much occupied with fears for their 
own safety to care for a stranger; but it was 
of course no place for him when his friends 
were flying, and he was removed to Bethle¬ 
hem, where the Moravians * took good care 
of him, and his wound gradually healed. He 
wrote to his wife that his wound was but a 
trifle. “The surgeons are astonished at the 
rapidity with which it heals; they are in an 
ecstasy of joy each time they dress it, and 
pretend it is the finest thing in the world. 
For my part, I think it most disagreeable, 
painful, and wearisome; but tastes often 
differ. If a man, however, wished to be 
wounded for his amusement only, he should 
come and examine how I have been struck, 
that he might be struck in precisely the same 
manner. This, my dearest love, is what I 

*A community who live together somewhat as Shakers do, 
and during the war often took care of the wounded. They are 
called Moravians because the sect was first formed in Mora¬ 
via. 



Age 20] 


A FIRST BATTLE 


33 


pompously style my wound, to give myself 
airs, and render myself interesting. 

“I must now give you your lesson as wife 
of an American general officer. They will 
say to you, ‘They have been beaten.’ You 
must answer, ‘That is true; but when two 
armies of equal numbers meet in the field, old 
soldiers have naturally the advantage over 
new ones; they have besides had the pleasure 
of killing a great many of the enemy,—many 
more than they have lost.’ They will after¬ 
wards add, ‘All that is very well; but Phila¬ 
delphia is taken, the capital of America, the 
rampart of liberty!’ You must politely an¬ 
swer, ‘You are all great fools! Philadelphia 
is a poor, forlorn town, exposed on every side, 
whose harbor was already closed; though the 
residence of Congress lent it, I know not 
why, some degree of celebrity.’ This is the 
famous city which, be it added, we will, 
sooner or later, make them yield back to us.” 

Lafayette certainly did all he could to 
make his wife’s mind easy by writing con¬ 
stantly, and in a very cheerful strain; but let¬ 
ters were then six or seven weeks in crossing 
the ocean, and she probably often heard false 
reports from London. The English, in writ¬ 
ing home, would naturally make the most of 
every success of theirs, and every loss on the 


34 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


American side. And Madame Lafayette must 
have mourned over this separation from her 
husband, as it is not likely that she was as 
enthusiastic as he in the cause of American 
independence. He had something to suffer, 
too. He says once, “Why was I so obstinately 
bent on coming hither? I have been well 
punished for my error; my affections are too 
strongly rooted for me to be able to perform 
such deeds. I hope you pity me.” Speaking 
again of himself,—“Be perfectly at ease about 
my wound; all the faculty* in America are 
engaged in my service. I have a friend who 
has spoken to them in such a manner that 
I am certain of being well attended to; that 
friend is General Washington. 

“This excellent man whose talents and 
virtues I admired, and whom I have learnt 
to revere as I know him better, has now 
become my intimate friend; his affectionate 
interest in me instantly won my heart. I am 
established in his family, and we live 
together like two attached brothers, with 
mutual confidence and cordiality. His friend¬ 
ship renders me as happy as I can possibly 
be in this country. When he sent his best 
surgeon to me, he told him to take charge of 


* Medical faculty,—physicians and surgeons. 



Age 20] 


A FIRST BATTLE 


35 


me as if I were his son, because he loved me 
with the same affection. Having heard that I 
wished to rejoin the army too soon, he wrote 
me a letter full of tenderness, in which he 
requested me to wait for the perfect restora¬ 
tion of my health. I give you these details, 
my dearest love, that you may feel quite cer¬ 
tain of the care that is taken of me.” 

During his recovery, while he was com¬ 
pelled to be idle, the Marquis, as he was gen¬ 
erally called in the United States, became 
very anxious for news from France. In one 
letter he says to his wife, “It is dreadful to 
be reduced to hold no communication except 
by letter with a person whom one loves as I 
love you, and as I shall ever love you until I 
draw my latest breath. I have not missed a 
single opportunity, not even the most indi¬ 
rect one, of writing to you. Do the same, on 
your side, my dearest life, if you love me.” 

Lafayette occupied himself while among 
the peaceful Moravians with writing letters 
full of warlike plans and schemes. But by his 
absence from the army he lost only a defeat. 
At the battle of Germantown, about three 
weeks after that of the Brandywine, the 
Americans were seized with a sudden panic, 
and a fog came up which confused them, so 
that they were finally routed, though they 


36 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


had begun very well. But at this period of 
the war even defeats were useful to the inex¬ 
perienced Americans,—by them they learned 
that they could fight, and needed only more 
training to be equal to the British. 

Lafayette rejoined the army early in 
November, before he could put a boot upon 
the wounded leg. Sir William Howe was 
established in Philadelphia for the winter, 
and had only to get possession of two forts 
on the Delaware River. They were bravely 
defended, but at last yielded to superior 
force. The American army remained on high 
ground near the city, watching the enemy, 
but too weak to do much. 

Lafayette distinguished himself in a little 
action on the 25th of November. He was 
reconnoitering * with three hundred and fifty 
men, and imprudently ventured too near one 
of the enemy’s posts, where they had cannon. 
Instead of retreating, however, he boldly 
attacked them; they gave way, supposing he 
had a large division of the army, and thus he 
had an opportunity to rejoin in safety the 
main body. This slight success pleased both 
the army and Congress; and at this time they 
had to make the most of small gains. 


Examining the country or an enemy’s post in a military way. 



Age 20] 


A FIRST BATTLE 


37 


Lafayette’s first campaign in America 
ended gloomily in the encampment at Valley 
Forge. He wrote hopefully, on the way 
thither. “The American army will endeavor 
to clothe itself, because it is almost in a state 
of nudity; to form itself, because it requires 
instruction; and to recruit itself, because it is 
feeble; but the thirteen States are going to 
rouse themselves and send us some men. My 
division will, I hope, be one of the strongest, 
and I shall exert myself to make it one of the 
best. . . . Our General is a man formed, in 
truth, for this Revolution, which could not 
have been accomplished without him. I see 
him more intimately than any other man, 
and I see that he is worthy of the adoration 
of his country. I admire each day more fully 
the excellence of his character and the kind¬ 
ness of his heart. . . . We are not, I con¬ 
fess, so strong as I expected, but we are 
strong enough to fight; we shall do so, I 
trust, with some degree of success; and with 
the assistance of France, we shall gain the 
cause that I cherish, because it is the cause of 
justice, because it honors humanity, because 
it is important to my country, and because my 
American friends and myself are deeply 
engaged in it.” 


38 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


Speaking of himself as so young for the 
post he had to fill,—being a Major-General at 
twenty,—he adds: “I read, I study, I examine, 
I listen, I reflect; and the result of all this is 
the endeavor to form an opinion into which 
I infuse as much common sense as possible. 
I will not talk much, for fear of saying foolish 
things; I will still less risk acting much, for 
fear of doing foolish things; for I am not dis¬ 
posed to abuse the confidence the Americans 
have kindly placed in me.” 

Lafayette’s cheerfulness was put to a 
severe test during this winter at Valley Forge. 
The sufferings of the army were really terri¬ 
ble. The soldiers lived in huts, and clothes, 
blankets, and shoes were wanting. The winter 
was a very cold one, and food often fell short 
both for officers and men. Sickness was the 
natural consequence of so many hardships 
and exposures. It was very easy for men to 
desert* into the back country, and at times the 
force was so small that if Sir William Howe 
had attacked them they would have found it 
hard to defend themselves. But he seems 
never to have thought of such a thing. The 
patience of the army excited every one’s 
admiration, and was the more remarkable 


* To leave the army secretly. 



Age 20] 


A FIRST BATTLE 


39 


because the British both in Philadelphia and 
New York had every comfort. But the sight 
of their sufferings naturally prevented the 
men of the neighborhood from enlisting,* 
and troops came in very small numbers from 
the distant States. 

The Commander-in-chief was greatly dis¬ 
tressed at the condition of the soldiers, and 
made every effort to relieve them. But the 
United States were very poor; the war had 
interrupted trade of all kinds and Congress 
did not know how to provide for the army. 

This winter proved the truth of Washing¬ 
ton’s first words to Lafayette; the young 
Frenchman shared all the privations of the 
Americans. “He adopted in every respect 
American dress, habits, and food. He wished 
to be more simple, frugal, and austere than 
the Americans themselves.” And what a 
change it must have been from living in Paris, 
the winter before! There was one great pleas¬ 
ure in the midst of hardships. General Wash¬ 
ington put great confidence in him. It was 
safer for him to speak of anxieties and diffi¬ 
culties to Lafayette than to the American 
officers; he was less likely to be discouraged, 
—he was hopeful, faithful, and true; and Gen- 


Joining the army. 



40 


LAFAYETTE 


[1777 


eral Washington, himself upright and true, 
valued that quality more than any other in a 
friend. Lafayette had also influence with the 
foreign officers, both from France and other 
countries, and thus felt that he was useful at 
Valley Forge, where there was much discon¬ 
tent among all ranks of the army. 

He soon had an opportunity of proving 
publicly his devotion to the Commander-in- 
chief. In addition to the distresses of the 
army, Washington had the private trial of 
having his reputation attacked in a mean, 
underhand way. Several discontented officers 
and members of Congress joined together in 
what was called Conway’s Cabal. We do not 
know now all that they wanted to do, but they 
were certainly bent on ruining General Wash¬ 
ington’s reputation as a soldier, and were 
constantly comparing the failures of his last 
campaign with successes in other parts of the 
country. 

So brilliant and popular a young officer as 
Lafayette would have been a great gain to 
their party; but he despised their arts, which 
he saw might impose upon the ignorant. 
People who are not accustomed to war do not 
know that it is impossible to fight without 
men and money, and the Commander-in-chief 


Age 20] 


A FIRST BATTLE 


41 


was obliged to keep his wants secret, lest the 
enemy should find out his weakness, and how 
very easily they might attack him. There 
were many Tories* always ready to carry re¬ 
ports to the British camp, and General Wash¬ 
ington bore any amount of blame rather than 
risk a loss to the army. His friends were not 
idle,—they put him on his guard, and both in 
and out of Congress took pains to make his 
conduct and character known. Still he had no 
means of finding out how many officers were 
engaged in the Cabal, and, as suspicion was 
most painful to his generous temper, Lafay¬ 
ette’s frank, openly expressed affection and 
sympathy were a special comfort to him this 
dreary winter. 

One thing which particularly troubled the 
Marquis was that General Conway, who gave 
his name to the Cabal, though an Irishman, 
had served in the French army, and professed 
great devotion to him. He was afraid that 
other French officers would be led away by 
Conway’s example and talking, and that his 
own name might be used quite too freely. In 
a letter to the Commander-in-chief he says: 
“I don’t need to tell you that I am very sorry 
for all that has happened for some time past. 


People who took sides with England. 



42 


LAFAYETTE 


[1778 


It is a necessary dependence* of my most 
tender and respectful friendship for you, 
which affection is as true and candid as the 
other sentiments of my heart, and much 
stronger than so new an acquaintance seems 
to admit; but another reason to be concerned 
in the present circumstances is my ardent and 
perhaps enthusiastic desire for the happiness 
and liberty of this country. I see plainly that 
America can defend herself if proper meas¬ 
ures are taken, and now I begin to fear lest 
she should be lost by herself and her own 
sons. 

“When I was in Europe, I thought that 
here almost every man was a lover of liberty, 
and would rather die free than live a slave. 
You can conceive my astonishment when I 
saw that Toryism was as openly professed as 
Whiggism itself; however, at that time I 
believed that all good Americans were united 
together,—that the confidence in you was un¬ 
bounded. Then I entertained the certitude 
that America would be independent in case 
she should not lose you. Take away for an 
instant that modest diffidence of yourself, 
(which, pardon my freedom, my dear Gen¬ 
eral, is sometimes too great, and I wish you 


* Consequence.—Lafayette always wrote in English to Gen¬ 
eral Washington, and sometimes made little mistakes. 



Age 20] 


A FIRST BATTLE 


43 


could know as well as myself what difference 
there is between you and any other man), 
you would see very plainly that if you were 
lost for America, there is nobody who could 
keep the army and the Revolution for six 
months.” 

In General Washington’s answer to the 
affectionate letter of which this is a part, 
he thanked Lafayette for his friendship, 
explained what he supposed to be the reasons 
of Conway’s dislike to him, and expressed his 
own indifference to slander, ending, as usual, 
hopefully: “I have no doubt that everything 
happens for the best, that we shall triumph 
over all our misfortunes, and in the end be 
happy; when, my dear Marquis, if you will 
give me your company in Virginia, we will 
laugh at our past difficulties, and the folly of 
others.” 

Thus, through various troubles, the 
attachment of these two friends of different 
nations, different education, different char¬ 
acters, and different ages, became strong and 
lasting. 

In the course of the winter, however, they 
were separated. The Cabal, very anxious to 
engage Lafayette in their interest, offered 
him a separate command at Albany, quite 
independent of the Commander-in-chief. A 


44 


LAFAYETTE 


[1778 


few soldiers in that neighborhood were called 
the Northern army, and an expedition into 
Canada was proposed. No doubt such a com¬ 
mand would have been very tempting to the 
vanity and ambition of many young officers; 
but Lafayette’s first request was that he 
might correspond with General Washington. 
He went to York to arrange plans for the 
expedition with Congress, to find out exactly 
how many men he might depend upon, and 
how he was to treat the Canadians. The 
Cabal soon saw that they could get no hold 
upon him. At a dinner at General Gate’s 
house, after the officers had given several 
toasts, he remarked that there was one which 
had been forgotten,—he would give them 
“The health of the Commander-in-chief!” Of 
course they could not refuse to drink it, but it 
was coldly received, and Lafayette could not 
have found a way to show his intentions more 
clearly. 


A NEW COMMAND 

Lafayette set out on his horseback jour¬ 
ney from York, Pennsylvania, to Albany, 
without any very bright hopes of success in 
his new position. The roads were blocked 
up with snow and ice, but he found some 
pleasure in the opportunity of seeing the 
country people in their homes; he liked their 
simple, independent way of living. He wrote 
to General Washington, on the way: “I go 
on very slowly; sometimes drenched by rain, 
sometimes covered by snow, and not enter¬ 
taining many handsome thoughts about the 
projected incursion into Canada . . . Lake 
Champlain is too cold for producing the least 
bit of laurel, and if I am not starved I shall 
be as proud as if I had gained three battles. 

. . . Could I believe for one single instant 
that this pompous command of a Northern 
Army will let your Excellency forget a little 

45 


46 


LAFAYETTE 


[1778 


us absent friends, then I would send the proj¬ 
ect to the place it comes from. But I dare 
hope you will remember me sometimes.” 

He was greatly disappointed to find that 
no preparations had been begun at Albany; 
he immediately gave orders for enlisting men, 
though checked by want of money. He wrote, 
“Dear General: Why am I so far from you, 
and what business had the Board of War to 
hurry me through the ice and snow without 
knowing what I should do, neither what they 
were doing themselves?” The plan had been 
to cross the lake upon the ice, and some Can¬ 
adians showed an interest in the Marquis; 
but the British general was much stronger 
than Congress had supposed, and repeated 
delays in the supplies which had been prom¬ 
ised convinced Lafayette that the scheme was 
useless. He might possibly have dashed into 
the enemy’s country with a handful of half- 
clothed troops, and have accomplished some 
one brilliant little action; but it would have 
done no good, and he had the good sense not 
to risk men’s lives for the sake of his own dis¬ 
tinction. 

Still to do nothing at all was a trial, and 
he began soon to be distressed about his 
reputation. He wrote to his best friend: “I 
confess my dear General, that I find myself 


Age 20] 


A NEW COMMAND 


47 


of very quick feelings whenever my reputa¬ 
tion and glory are concerned in anything. It 
is very hard indeed that such a part of my 
happiness, without which I cannot live, 
should depend upon schemes which I never 
knew of but when it is too late to put them 
into execution. I assure you, my most dear 
and respected friend, that I am more un¬ 
happy than I ever was. 

“My desire of doing something was such 
that I have thought of doing it by surprise 
with a detachment; but it seems to me rash, 
and quite impossible. I should be very happy 
if you were here to give me some advice; but 
I have nobody to consult with.” 

In March the ice began to melt, and La¬ 
fayette with regret gave up his last hope of 
action, and obeyed the counsels of prudence. 
General Washington’s answer to his letter 
did not arrive until after his decision, but was 
full of sympathy and consolation, and Con¬ 
gress thanked him for his wisdom and for¬ 
bearance. 

He endeavored to make better arrange¬ 
ments for the troops in the neighborhood of 
Albany, and to protect the country people 
from the attacks of the Indians. He was 
present at a meeting of chiefs of the Oneidas, 
Tuscaroras, and other tribes, with General 


48 


LAFAYETTE 


[1778 


Schuyler and Mr. Duane, who were charged 
with the management of Indian affairs. He 
made speeches, and, like many other French¬ 
men, had much more influence over the In¬ 
dians than the English. They gave him the 
name of Kayewla, and kept him in remem¬ 
brance for many years. On his part, he was 
quite pleased with the politics of the old 
sachems.* 

Early in the spring Lafayette rejoined 
Washington at Valley Forge, and found the 
army in a better state than when he left it. 
The Cabal had lost its power, and General 
Washington was more beloved than ever. 

The 2d of May, 1778, was celebrated joy¬ 
fully by the army, because they had received 
the news that France had joined with them 
in the war against England. It was agreed 
that neither nation should make peace sepa¬ 
rately, and the Americans had hopes of great 
assistance from so powerful an ally.f This 
event gave much pleasure to the Marquis; he 
had been wishing for it a long time, and 
though he was in disgrace with the French 
government on account of the manner in 
which he quitted the country, he had many 


* Chiefs of tribes. 

f A person or nation who is bound by promise to help another. 



Age 20] 


A NEW COMMAND 


49 


friends and relations at court, and his letters 
may have influenced people in power. 

He, unlike many discontented foreigners, 
always sent home favorable accounts of the 
United States. In this country, also, he tried 
to make the people feel kindly towards 
France; but there were some obstacles in his 
way. For hundreds of years the English and 
French had been enemies, often fighting, 
always laughing at and despising each other; 
and the Americans, being descended from the 
English, had inherited many of their prej¬ 
udices. Lafayette was very much liked here, 
on account of his pleasant manners, his 
enthusiasm for liberty and his romantic story; 
and his wish was to turn his own popularity 
into an affection for his beloved country. 

At the same time with these good tidings 
from France, came the news that Great 
Britain would send commissioners to make 
one more effort for peace. But still the King 
refused to acknowledge that the States were 
independent, and Congress would listen to 
nothing short of that. 

The campaign of 1778 opened rather late. 
Sir William Howe was in no haste to leave 
Philadelphia. On the 18th of May, General 
Washington sent Lafayette with 2,000 chosen 
men across the Schuylkill River, to get infor- 


50 


LAFAYETTE 


[1778 


mation of the enemy’s movements and plans. 
The Marquis proceeded to Barren Hill, about 
eleven miles from both armies. He stationed 
his troops there, and on the morning of the 
20th was told that some red dragoons* whom 
he was expecting had arrived at Whitemarsh, 
on the left of his force. On examining care¬ 
fully into the truth of this story, he found 
that a column of redcoated British soldiers 
was advancing upon him. He had just altered 
the position of his troops, that he might 
receive the enemy better, when he was told 
that they were also on a road behind him. 
This information was brought to him in 
presence of the men, and, unpleasant as it 
was, he forced himself to smile. No general 
should ever look discouraged. 

He immediately decided to march rapidly, 
but without hurrying, to Matson’s Ford; the 
enemy was nearer to it than he. General 
Grant, commanding a detachment of 7,000 
men, had possession of heights above the 
road; but he was deceived by Lafayette’s 
coolness and skilful arrangement of his men, 
and fancied that he saw but a part of his 
force. While he was examining, the whole 
body passed by him. 


* Soldiers who are usually on horseback, heavier armed than 
cavalry. 



Age 20] 


A NEW COMMAND 


51 


General Grey’s column of 2,000, now in the 
rear, was imposed upon in the same way, and 
Lafayette succeeded in arranging his men on 
the opposite bank of the Schuylkill before any 
attack had been made. A third division of the 
British army came up, and the generals were 
astonished to find that they had only each 
other to fight with. They decided not to cross 
the river, but returned to Philadelphia, much 
disappointed that the Marquis de Lafayette 
was not their prisoner. Sir William Howe had 
been so sure of taking him, that he had invited 
some ladies to meet him at supper. Lafayette 
likewise marched back to Valley Forge, where 
he was received with great joy. The alarm 
had reached the camp, and General Washing¬ 
ton had feared not only a repulse, but the loss 
of the best men in his army. The Marquis’s 
conduct on this day added much to his reputa¬ 
tion as a military man, for it was thought 
remarkable that so young a general had 
proved more than a match for two old ones. 

In June Lafayette received the sad news of 
the death of his oldest child, a little girl. For a 
time, all his thoughts turned to France, and 
he would have been glad to go home to con¬ 
sole his wife; but a soldier cannot leave his 
post in the middle of a campaign. 


52 


LAFAYETTE 


[1778 


On the 17th of June the British army left 
Philadelphia, and began to march through 
New Jersey. 

There was a great division of opinion 
among the American officers as to the pro¬ 
priety of attacking them, or letting them go 
undisturbed. General Lee, a distinguished 
officer, (English by birth, but who had served 
in many countries,) spoke warmly in favor of 
letting them go. He said the time was 
unfavorable for an attack, and that the 
Americans should rather help than hinder 
the departure of the enemy. 

Lafayette took the opposite side of the 
question, and thought it would be disgraceful 
to allow the enemy to pass quietly through 
the State. Though Lee’s opinion had great 
weight, on account of his age and expe¬ 
rience, some of the officers agreed with 
Lafayette, and the Commander-in-chief 
decided that an attack should be made on 
the rear of the British force. 

A division of the army was to be sent for¬ 
ward for this purpose. The command of it 
belonged by rank to General Lee; but, as he 
had never liked the plan, General Washing¬ 
ton, with his consent, gave it to Lafayette. 
Lee then changed his mind and wished to 
take it himself, but was persuaded to yield; 


Age 20] 


A NEW COMMAND 


53 


finding, however, it was to be a large detach¬ 
ment, he again requested the Commander- 
in-chief to allow him to lead it. So many 
changes were very trying to Lafayette’s 
temper,—he was a young general, and eager 
for the glory which Lee had won years 
before; the command of a division, any 
opportunity for distinction, was very rare 
during this tedious war, and much sought 
for,—but he was thoroughly obliging. Gen¬ 
eral Lee said to him, “It is my fortune and 
honor that I place in your hands; you are too 
generous to cause the loss of both;’’ and 
Lafayette, after he had actually left the 
camp, wrote, in a note to General Washing¬ 
ton, “Sir, I want to repeat to you in writing 
what I have told to you; which is, that if you 
believe it, or if it is believed necessary or 
useful to the good of the service and the 
honor of General Lee, to send him down with 
a couple of thousand men, or any greater 
force, I will cheerfully obey and serve him, 
not only out of duty, but out of what I owe 
to that gentleman’s character.” This was the 
more generous on his part, because he and 
Lee had constant little disagreements. Gen¬ 
eral Lee had very strong English prejudices, 
and the Marquis was an ardent Frenchman. 
Finally the Commander-in-chief increased 


54 


LAFAYETTE 


[1778 


the number of troops, thus making it more 
proper to give the command to the person 
next to himself in rank, and at the same 
time requested General Lee not to alter any 
arrangements which Lafayette had already 
made. 

On the 28th of June the battle of Mon¬ 
mouth was fought. The Americans attacked 
the British army as it was leaving the town, 
but General Lee’s conduct was very strange; 
he ordered his men to retreat early in the 
day, and at the very moment when the Com¬ 
mander-in-chief was bringing up the main 
body of the army. The meeting, of course, 
produced great confusion, and General Wash¬ 
ington was exceedingly displeased. With 
great quickness and with the best judgment, 
he rearranged the troops, and the Americans 
gained a decided advantage. Lafayette says 
of him: “General Washington was never 
greater in battle than in this action. His 
graceful bearing on horseback, his calm and 
dignified deportment, which still retained 
some trace of the displeasure he had expe¬ 
rienced in the morning, were all calculated to 
excite the highest degree of enthusiasm.” 
The Marquis himself was in constant motion 
from four o’clock in the morning until night, 
when the battle ended. He was first ordered 



































Age 20] A NEW COMMAND 57 

to cross an exposed plain to attack the 
enemy’s left, and then to fall back; he had 
only to obey General Lee’s orders, though he 
could not understand them. Afterwards, 
while General Washington was forming his 
new lines, he undertook to keep back the 
advancing enemy. “The heat was so intense 
that soldiers fell dead without having 
received a single wound.” 

At night Washington and Lafayette lay 
down upon the same cloak, talking of General 
Lee’s behavior, and expecting to renew the 
fight in the morning. But when daylight 
came they found that the British had moved 
on, and General Washington thought his men 
too much exhausted to pursue them in such 
sultry weather. 

The next important event was the arrival 
of a French fleet off New York harbor. 
Lafayette was disappointed in his first hopes 
that the ships would attack the city by sea, 
while Washington did the same by land. No 
pilot could be found to take the large vessels 
into the harbor. 

A plan was then formed for an attack on 
Rhode Island by the fleet combined with land 
forces. General Sullivan was already at Provi¬ 
dence, and Lafayette and General Greene 
were dispatched from head-quarters. 


58 


LAFAYETTE 


[1778 


But this expedition was likewise unfor¬ 
tunate. The land forces were not ready when 
the fleet appeared off Newport, and while the 
French admiral* was waiting for them, Lord 
Howe, who had watched his movements, 
came to meet him. The two fleets immedi¬ 
ately put out to sea, with the intention of 
fighting; but a violent storm scattered them, 
and when the French admiral returned to 
Newport he declared that he must go imme¬ 
diately to Boston to refit his ships. This 
was a terrible blow to the Americans who, in 
the mean time, had drawn near Newport, and 
were hoping to make the combined attack. 
Lafayette and General Greene were sent on 
board Count d’Estaing’s ship to urge him to 
remain, but they could not prevail upon him 
to do so. 

Lafayette’s regret, deep as it was, was 
soon mingled with indignation. All the 
American officers, except General Greene, 
spoke of the admiral’s conduct with great 
bitterness, and General Sullivan even went so 
far as to say publicly “our allies have deserted 
us.” It was perfectly natural that they should 
feel vexed and disappointed, but very unwise 
to express their feelings so strongly; for 


* Count d’Estaing. 



Age 20] 


A NEW COMMAND 


59 


when people of different nations are trying to 
act together, they must pass lightly over 
causes of disagreement, and do their best to 
keep the peace while they make war. 

Such language touched Lafayette in a 
most sensitive place; his country’s honor was 
dear to him. He wrote to General Washing¬ 
ton : “My reason for not writing the same day 
the French fleet went to Boston was that I 
did not choose to trouble your friendship with 
the sentiments of an injured, afflicted heart, 
and injured by that very people I came from 
so far to love and support. Don’t be sur¬ 
prised, my dear General; the generosity of 
your honorable mind would be offended at 
the shocking sight I have under my eyes.” 
And further on, after a long account of the 
troubles, he says: “Remember, my dear Gen¬ 
eral, that I don’t speak to the Commander- 
in-chief, but to my friend; that I am far from 
complaining of anybody. I have no com¬ 
plaints to make to you against any one, but 
I lament with you that I have had an occa¬ 
sion of seeing so ungenerous sentiments in 
American hearts. ... I earnestly beg you 
will recommend to the several chief persons 
of Boston to do everything they can to put 
the French fleet in a situation for sailing 
soon. Give me leave to add that I wish many 


60 


LAFAYETTE 


[1778 


people, by the declaration of your sentiments 
in that affair, could learn how to regulate 
theirs and blush at the sight of your gener¬ 
osity. 

“Farewell, my dear General. Whenever I 
quit you, I meet with some disappointment 
and misfortune. I did not need it, to desire 
seeing you as much as possible.” 

The Commander-in-chief did, in fact, act 
as peacemaker, and wrote most pressing 
letters to the officers, trying to infuse into 
their minds a little of his own patience and 
consideration. In spite of his indignation, 
Lafayette did the same, and made the best 
use of his influence in Boston. He was con¬ 
stantly sent with messages from the army to 
the fleet, and even followed the Admiral to 
Boston to arrange plans. 

While he was absent, General Sullivan 
removed the troops from the neighborhood 
of Newport to the northern end of Rhode 
Island, and Lafayette hurried back, expect¬ 
ing an engagment. He traveled on horseback 
eighty miles in eight hours, but arrived only 
in time to meet the main body crossing the 
ferry between Rhode Island and the main 
land. A thousand men, the rear-guard,* had 
been left on the island, and were almost sur- 

* Those who come last in marching. 



Age 20] 


A NEW COMMAND 


61 


rounded by the enemy. Lafayette took the 
command of them, and succeeded in with¬ 
drawing them without the loss of a single 
life. When Congress returned thanks for his 
conduct during this retreat, they also ex¬ 
pressed their gratitude to him for undertak¬ 
ing the journey to Boston “at a period when 
he might rationally have expected an engage¬ 
ment.” 

No battle took place in the State of Rhode 
Island, and the British were left at Newport 
exactly as they had been before the expedi¬ 
tion was proposed. Lafayette went again to 
Boston for a little while, hoping to be of use 
to his countrymen there, and afterwards 
rejoined the main body of the army. 

At this time, Lord Carlisle, one of the 
British commissioners sent to Congress, 
made use, in a public letter, of some expres¬ 
sion insulting to France. Lafayette, there¬ 
fore, challenged him to fight a duel, which 
was rather a boyish act, as Lord Carlisle was 
not a man to fight, nor in a proper position to 
accept a challenge. He refused it; but even 
people who disapproved of Lafayette’s con¬ 
duct saw clearly that his high spirit and love 
of his country were the motives of it. Fight¬ 
ing a duel was not in those days, and espe¬ 
cially among the French, the disgraceful act 


62 A NEW COMMAND [1778 

that it is now considered in most civilized 
countries. 

The campaign of 1778 drew to a close in 
the United States, and, as France was at war, 
Lafayette thought it his duty to return to his 
native country, and asked permission of Con¬ 
gress to do so. This was immediately 
granted, with the warmest thanks for his 
services. A sword was ordered to be pre¬ 
sented to him, and a ship of war, the Alliance, 
chosen to convey him home. 

He was to embark at Boston, and set out 
on horseback from Philadelphia. His journey 
was often interrupted by entertainments at 
various places, and was at last brought to an 
end by a severe fever. He had had a great 
deal of labor and exposure, besides excite¬ 
ment of mind, at Rhode Island; and, although 
he struggled hard to keep up during this 
journey, his strength was no longer sufficient 
to resist the violence of the disease. Fortu¬ 
nately he was able to reach Fishkill, on the 
Hudson, eight miles from the headquarters 
of the army. Dr. Cochran, the chief surgeon, 
was devoted to him, and General Washing¬ 
ton came every day to inquire about him. He 
became so ill that his death was constantly 
expected for several days, and every one in 
the army, from the Commander-in-chief to 


Age 21] 


A NEW COMMAND 


63 


the private soldiers, expressed the sincerest 
grief. The idea of this young foreigner dying 
in a strange land just when he was expecting 
to go home, touched every one’s feelings. 
His mind was perfectly clear; he made some 
necessary arrangements in case of his death, 
and then only regretted that he could not see 
again those whom he loved best. 

But the fever did not prove fatal; he 
recovered, and at the end of three months 
was thinking again of his voyage. He took 
a most affectionate leave of General Wash¬ 
ington, to whom he had become more and 
more attached, ever since he arrived in 
America. He respected and admired Wash¬ 
ington as much as he loved him;—when 
absent, he constantly turned to him for sym¬ 
pathy and advice; when they could be 
together, he was always happy. What a 
fortunate man to have such a friend! 

He proceeded to Boston in January, 1779. 
The citizens, who had always been very 
friendly to him, now paid him the kindest 
attentions, and he was supplied with excel¬ 
lent Madeira wine, which he found very use¬ 
ful in restoring his strength. He was delayed 
a few days, because the crew of the Alliance 
was not complete, and it was finally filled up 
with some British deserters and prisoners. 


64 


LAFAYETTE 


[1779 


The Marquis wrote letters to Canada, sent 
presents to the Indians, and repeated his 
farewells to his friends. A long letter to Gen¬ 
eral Washington ends thus: “Farewell, my 
most beloved General. It is not without emo¬ 
tion I bid you this last adieu before so long a 
separation. Don’t forget an absent friend, 
and believe me, for ever and ever, with the 
highest respect and tenderest affection, 
Lafayette.” As he did not sail immediately, 
he opened his letter to say good-by once 
more. 


THE TWO ALLIANCES 


The Alliance sailed on the 11th of Janu¬ 
ary, 1779, and her passage was stormy; but 
Lafayette had to meet a greater danger 
within the ship than that from winds and 
waves without. Eight days be f o r e they 
reached the coast of France, the Englishmen 
on board formed a design of getting posses¬ 
sion of the ship and guns, and then killing 
the officers, passengers, and any of the crew 
who should resist. They would then have 
taken the ship into some British harbor, and 
would have received as much money as she 
was worth. 

Fortunately, the mutineers,* mistaking 
an American for an Irishman, told him of 
their plot, and offered him the command of 
the vessel. He gave warning to the captain 
and to Lafayette just one hour before the 
ship was to be seized. They rushed on deck, 
sword in hand, and, with the assistance of 
the passengers and French and American 
sailors, secured thirty-one of the British. 
The rest of the crew were not strong enough 
to carry on the mutiny, and the ship went 
safely on her way. 

* Men determined not to obey their officers. 

65 




66 


LAFAYETTE 


[1779 


As soon as he landed in France, Lafayette 
hastened to Paris, and was delighted to meet 
his own family and friends once more. He 
had much to tell of a world unknown to 
Parisians, but which he was determined to 
make them care for. His mind was con¬ 
stantly full of schemes for carrying on the 
w a r,—for annoying England and helping 
America. He was still out of favor with 
government for the way in which he had left 
the kingdom; but all France was proud of 
his bravery, and delighted with his romantic 
enthusiasm. We can hardly imagine how 
much a young nobleman who had had such 
uncommon adventures would be talked 
about. He was, as a matter of form, desired 
not to appear in public places, and to visit 
only his relations; but, as he and his wife 
had an enormous number of them, such an 
order did not oblige him to lead a very quiet 
life. The court ladies were eager to see him, 
and the ministers had many questions to ask 
him. He soon received the honorable appoint¬ 
ment of colonel of a regiment of the King’s 
dragoons, and began to correspond with the 
minister of war about his various plans for 
the benefit of his adopted country. 

He had left the United States fired with 
the idea of a grand expedition against Can- 


Age 21] 


THE TWO ALLIANCES 


67 


ada; but the French government was as slow 
to engage in so expensive a plan as Congress 
had been, and he was obliged to be content 
with a more moderate scheme. He next pro¬ 
posed that a small fleet should appear off 
some of the large and rich English towns, 
such as Liverpool; the inhabitants, for fear 
of injury to their houses and shops, would 
probably pay large sums of money, and the 
amount so collected should be devoted to 
the American cause. 

But this project also was not acceptable 
to the ministers, and while they were taking 
counsel with Spain about a grand invasion 
of England, Lafayette asked and obtained 
for the United States the assistance of land 
troops, which had not been sent up to this 
time, and which Congress had not desired 
him to ask for. He was perfectly sure, how¬ 
ever, that they were necessary, and that the 
ministers would be more ready to send a 
good fleet if they were interested in the 
officers of the army. 

In August, 1779, the grandson of Dr. 
Franklin who was the envoy of the United 
States in Paris, presented to him the sword 
ordered by Congress, which had been made in 
France. It was engraved with figures repre¬ 
senting his exploits at Gloucester, Barren 


68 


LAFAYETTE 


[1779 


Hill, Monmouth, and Rhode Island. Dr. 
Franklin said, in the letter which accom¬ 
panied it, “By the help of the exquisite 
artists of France, I find it easy to express 
everything but the sense we have of your 
worth and our obligations to you; for this, 
figures and even words are insufficient.” 

Lafayette’s heart was certainly half in 
America, during the whole summer. He 
wrote to General Washington: “I cannot 
express to you how uneasy I feel on account 
of your health, and the dangers you are, per¬ 
haps at this moment, exposing yourself to. 
These you may possibly laugh at and call 
womanlike considerations; but so, my dear 
friend, I feel, and I never could conceal the 

sentiments of my heart.I know, my 

dear General, you wish to hear something 
about my private affairs. My family, my 
friends, and my countrymen made me such 
a reception, and showed me every day such 
an affection as I should not have dared to 
hope.What I wish, my dear Gen¬ 

eral, what would make me the happiest of 
men, is to join American colors, or to put 
under your orders a division of four or five 
thousand countrymen of mine. 

“All Europe wants to see you so much, 
my dear Sir, that you cannot refuse them 




Age 21] THE TWO ALLIANCES 69 

that pleasure. I have boldly affirmed that you 
will pay me a visit after the peace is settled; 
so that, if you deny me, you will hurt your 
friend’s reputation throughout the world. 

.I most earnestly entreat you, my 

dear General, to let me hear from you. 
Write me how you do, how things are going 
on. The minutest detail will be interesting. 
Don’t forget me, my dear General; be ever 
as affectionate to me as you have been; these 
sentiments I deserve from the ardent ones 
which fill my heart.” 

In a letter written on the 7th of October, 
1779, he laments that he has not once heard 
from General Washington, and says: “Let 
me beseech you, my dear General, by that 
mutual tender and experienced friendship in 
which I have put an immense portion of my 
happiness, to be very exact in inquiring for 
occasions, and never to miss those which 
may convey to me letters that I shall be so 
much pleased to receive.Be cer¬ 

tain, my dear General, that in any situation, 
in any case, let me act as a French or as an 
American officer, my first wish, my first 
pleasure, will be to serve again with you. 
However happy I am in France, however, 
well treated by my country and king, I have 




70 


LAFAYETTE 


[1779 


taken such a habit of being with you,—I am 
tied to you, to America, to my fellow-soldiers 
by such an affection,—that the moment 
when I shall sail for your country will be 
one of the most wished-for and the happiest 
of my life.” 

During the autumn and winter he perse¬ 
vered in his efforts to obtain money and land 
forces for the American army, and he was 
at last successful; the money was placed at 
General Washington’s disposal, the troops 
were to be commanded by Count Rocham- 
beau, and Lafayette was to resume his sta¬ 
tion in the service of the United States. 

He sailed from France the second time 
in March, 1780. No despatches from govern¬ 
ment delayed his departure, and on the 27th 
of April he wrote from Boston harbor to 
announce his arrival to the Commander-in- 
chief. The people of Boston received the 
Marquis with the greatest joy. He was taken 
in triumph to Governor Hancock’s house, 
but he was too impatient to see General 
Washington to allow himself to be long 
detained by any festivities. This welcome, 
however, was for himself: nothing was 
known as yet of the good news he brought. 

He hastened on to head-quarters. After 
the first pleasure of their meeting was over, 


Age 22] 


THE TWO ALLIANCES 


71 


he learned from General Washington the bad 
state of the American army. Money and pro¬ 
visions were scarce, and it was very difficult 
to collect men; the country was exhausted 
and indifferent. Then Lafayette revealed his 
good tidings; he had gone beyond the orders 
of Congress, but the wants of the United 
States were exactly those which he had sup¬ 
posed, and Washington felt the strongest 
hope that the timely arrival of the French 
fleet would rouse the Americans to fresh 
exertions. 

Secret preparations were made for the 
fleet at Newport, Rhode Island. It was 
expected in July, and Lafayette took up his 
station in the front of the Commander-in- 
chief’s division of the army, which was estab¬ 
lished on the banks of the Hudson River. He 
had brought from France swords, banners, 
and some ornaments for the officers and 
soldiers of his corps,*—he was so much 
attached to them, that it was like giving 
presents to his friends. Clothes, much needed 
by many others beside his men, had been 
promised in France, but never came. 

The French fleet arrived at the appointed 


A body of troops used to acting together. 



72 


LAFAYETTE 


[1780 


time, and the first plan proposed was that of 
a joint attack on New York; but all hopes 
of an action were soon overthrown by the 
blockade of the French fleet in Newport 
harbor. The English squadron was decidedly 
larger, and the French admiral could not 
move. Count Rochambeau would very gladly 
have joined General Washington in an attack 
by land; but there seemed not the smallest 
prospect of success, unless the ships could 
assist them. This state of things was exceed¬ 
ingly trying to Lafayette, who was Washing¬ 
ton’s messenger and secretary in all his 
communications with the Count, and was 
positively longing to see something accom¬ 
plished. 

During his first visit to Rhode Island, 
however, he had the pleasure of finding the 
allied armies on very friendly terms. He 
wrote to General Washington that, on the 
arrival of some American militia-men, “every 
French soldier and officer took an American 
with him, and divided his bed and his supper 

with him in a most friendly manner. 

The French discipline is such that chickens 
and pigs walk between the tents without 
being disturbed, and that there is in the camp 
a corn-field of which not one leaf has been 



The French fleet arrived at the appointed time. 


73 











Age 22] THE TWO ALLIANCES 75 

touched. The Tories don’t know what to 
say to it.” To understand what high praise 
this is, you must remember that soldiers are 
generally very careless in their habits, and 
are apt to compel farmers to give them what¬ 
ever they can see in the way of food. To 
prevent their doing mischief requires great 
care on the part of the officers, as well as 
obedience and good-temper from the men. 

While waiting for further aid from 
France, Count Rochambeau was very desir¬ 
ous of seeing General Washington, who 
found it difficult to leave headquarters. On 
the 18th of September, however, he set out 
for Hartford, Connecticut, where he had a 
most agreeable meeting with the Count. He 
returned to West Point on the 25th, a few 
hours after the escape of General Arnold, 
who had betrayed the place to the enemy. 
The arrest of the unfortunate Major Andre, 
the British officer who made the agreement 
with Arnold, prevented Sir Henry Clinton 
from gaining any advantage by this piece of 
treachery; but the first discovery of it was 
appalling to the Commander-in-chief, and to 
all those about him. Lafayette was walking 
up to Arnold’s house with General Wash¬ 
ington and General Knox, when Colonel 
Hamilton came out and said a few words to 


76 


LAFAYETTE 


[1780 


the Commander-in-chief in a low voice, but 
this probably excited no surprise in the 
minds of his companions. In a short time, 
however, Washington rejoined them, and 
put into their hands the papers which proved 
Arnold’s guilt. They were shocked, for, 
though General Arnold’s character was not 
entirely without reproach, he had been one 
of the bravest and most distinguished officers 
of the American army. But no time could 
be lost in feeling,—it was necessary to act; 
and since it was too late to capture Arnold, 
all efforts were turned to the security of 
West Point. Lafayette shared his General’s 
anxiety, and did not fail to observe and 
admire his kind and delicate attention to 
Mrs. Arnold, who was left alone in a most 
unhappy condition. 

He was one of the fourteen generals who 
tried Major Andre, and decided that he must 
suffer death by hanging,—the usual fate of a 
spy; yet his feelings were very much touched 
by Andre’s situation, and the cheerful forti¬ 
tude with which he bore his sentence. Gen¬ 
eral Washington would have been glad to 
have exchanged Andre for Arnold; but Sir 
Henry Clinton would not consent to such 
an arrangement, though he made great 
efforts to save Andre’s life. 


ACTIVE OPERATIONS 

In October of this year Lafayette wrote 
a long letter to the Commander-in-chief, 
urging an immediate attack on the city of 
New York. He was very tired of reconnoit¬ 
ring parties, and plans which came to noth¬ 
ing ; and he felt that some action was needed, 
both for the honor of America and the credit 
of the French army. General Washington in 
his heart desired activity quite as much as 
his young friend; but he did not think the 
time favorable enough for so large a scheme, 
and he could only recommend to Lafayette 
the patience which he so constantly practised 
himself. 

In November the Marquis de Chastellux, 
a French traveller who visited the Comman¬ 
der-in-chief at headquarters, thus describes 
Lafayette’s appearance: “We availed our- 
77 


78 


LAFAYETTE 


[1781 


selves of the cessation of the rain to accom¬ 
pany his Excellency to the camp of the 
Marquis. We found all his troops ranged in 
line of battle on the heights to the left, and 
himself at their head, expressing both by his 
deportment and physiognomy that he pre¬ 
ferred seeing me there to receiving me on 
his estate in Auvergne. The confidence and 
attachment of his troops are most precious 
in his eyes, for he looks upon that species of 
wealth as one of which he cannot be 
deprived. But what I think still more flatter¬ 
ing to a young man of his age is the influence 
which he has acquired in political as well as 
military circles. I have no fear of being con¬ 
tradicted when I assert that simple letters 
from him have often had more influence in 
some of the States of the Union than the 
strongest invitations on the part of Con¬ 
gress.” 

In February, 1781, Lafayette was des¬ 
patched from headquarters to Portsmouth, 
Virginia, to oppose with but a small force 
the traitor Arnold. The French fleet which 
was to assist him was defeated at sea on its 
way, and Lafayette, having blockaded Ports¬ 
mouth, was retreating northwards, when at 
Head of Elk he met despatches from General 
Washington. These informed him that rein- 


Age 23] 


ACTIVE OPERATIONS 


79 


forcements were to go from the British head¬ 
quarters to Arnold, and that he must aid the 
Virginians. Now, like all American generals, 
Lafayette found himself beset by difficulties. 
His men were from the New England States, 
and were unwilling to be exposed to the 
southern climate; they began to desert. 
Lafayette told them, in a general order,* that 
he was setting out on a difficult, dangerous 
enterprise, and that whoever wished to quit 
him might obtain leave to do so by coming 
to headquarters. From that day there were 
no more desertions; the men felt it an honor 
to follow their leader, and one sergeant, who 
was lame and could not walk, hired a cart 
rather than be left behind. They were with¬ 
out proper clothes for a southern campaign, 
and Lafayette borrowed money to buy linen 
for them, which the ladies of Baltimore made 
into shirts. 

He had not men enough for fighting 
battles. His objects in this campaign were to 
deceive and annoy the enemy, to protect the 
military stores which supplied the army of 
General Greene in Carolina, and to prevent 
the British from gaining any advantage from 
their superior troops and equipments. He 


^Directions and advice from a general, which are read aloud 
to the troops. 



80 


LAFAYETTE 


[1781 


immediately distinguished himself by a rapid 
march to Richmond, the capital of Virginia, 
which greatly astonished the British General 
Phillips. This officer died soon after, and 
Lafayette refused to receive a letter from 
Arnold, who succeeded him in the command. 
This spirited determination pleased General 
Washington and Congress. 

Perhaps it seems strange that the com¬ 
manders of hostile armies should have any 
occasion to write to each other; but there are 
always questions of business coming up; 
sometimes relating to the treatment and 
exchange of prisoners; sometimes to the pro¬ 
tection of the country people near the camp, 
who are always in danger of being robbed; 
and in various ways generals can show civil¬ 
ity and respect for each other. By refusing 
to hold any communication with General 
Arnold, Lafayette plainly showed that he did 
not think him a proper person for an Amer¬ 
ican officer to speak to. 

Virginia became at this time the principal 
scene of war. General Greene was active in 
the Carolinas, but was ill-supplied, had been 
defeated, and could only hope to delay Lord 
Cornwallis’s arrival in Virginia. His lordship 
was fighting his way up from Charleston, 
South Carolina, to join General Phillips. 


Age 23] 


ACTIVE OPERATIONS 


81 


Between the Commander-in-c h i e f, 
Greene, and Lafayette, there was the most 
perfect agreement both in wishes and actions. 
General Washington watched both divisions, 
and assisted both as far as he could; but he 
could not leave his station near New York, 
which was still to be attacked whenever the 
long-expected French fleet should arrive. 
General Greene was like Washington,— 
patient, prudent, and hopeful; but Lafayette 
needed a double share of discretion when in 
May he found himself opposed to Lord Corn¬ 
wallis, the best British general in America. 

From the Marquis’s youth and inexperi¬ 
ence, Cornwallis promised himself an easy 
victory, and was confident enough to say, in 
one of his letters, “The boy cannot escape 
me.” He had one great advantage in mount¬ 
ing his dragoons on the fine Virginia horses 
which he found in abundance in the stables of 
the planters. Lafayette says, in one of his let¬ 
ters: “There is no fighting here unless you 
have a naval superiority, or an army 
mounted on racehorses”; and, again, he 
speaks of the “immense and excellent body 
of horse, whom the militia fear as if they 
were so many wild beasts.” He was, how¬ 
ever, joined by many of the young men of the 


LAFAYETTE 


82 


[1781 


State, whose intelligence and high spirit 
were of great use to him. 

After having gained possession of Rich¬ 
mond, he was not strong enough to remain 
there, and slowly retreated before Lord 
Cornwallis, hoping to be joined by some 
Pennsylvania troops. He never allowed the 
two armies to meet in such a way that there 
could be an engagement; and yet he moved 
as slowly as possible, leaving each place just 
as the British advance guard entered it. He 
could not continue long on this plan; for the 
Pennsylvanians did not come at the time 
they were expected, and there were some 
stores at Albemarle Old Court House, which 
it was necessary to guard. It was supposed 
that he must pass in front of the whole Eng¬ 
lish army, and so expose himself to certain 
defeat; but he discovered an old road, which 
had been long unused, had it mended by 
night, and led his men successfully to the 
spot. Lord Cornwallis was surprised to hear 
of him established in so strong a position. 
He now turned towards Richmond and Wil¬ 
liamsburg, and Lafayette, being joined by 
the Pennsylvania troops, under General 
Wayne, and by another reinforcement, under 
Baron Steuben, ventured to follow him. 


Age 23] ACTIVE OPERATIONS 83 

There were constant skirmishes, but 
nothing that could be called a regular attack 
until the 6th of July, when the British army 
was crossing James River, on the march from 
Williamsburg to Portsmouth. Lafayette, 
believing that the larger part of the army 
had crossed, ordered an attack upon what he 
supposed to be a rear-guard. Lord Corn¬ 
wallis, intending to deceive him, had sent 
forward, with great parade, only a small 
detachment, and received the Americans 
with the main body of his army. General 
Wayne, nick-named Mad Anthony, was in 
command, and when he found out his danger 
continued to advance, thinking it safer than 
to retreat. Lafayette, with fresh troops, was 
ready to follow, if he were needed; but, as he 
listened to the heavy firing, it struck him 
that there must be more than a rear-guard 
engaged,—he galloped to a place where he 
could see the action, and immediately sent 
assistance to Wayne, with orders to fall back. 
This was successfully done, and, as it was 
growing dark, Lord Cornwallis did not pur¬ 
sue him. The violent beginning and sudden 
end of the attack made him suspect a snare. 

This was a severe conflict. “Our field 
officers,” says General Wayne, “were gener¬ 
ally dismounted by having their horses killed 


84 


LAFAYETTE 


[1781 


or wounded under them. I will not condole 
with the Marquis for the loss of two of his, 
as he was frequently requested to keep at a 
greater distance. His natural bravery rend¬ 
ered him deaf to admonition.” 

A few days later, the British proceeded to 
Portsmouth, which they considered a very 
advantageous place, on account of the com¬ 
munication with New York. Lafayette had 
been hoping that they would go to the sea- 
coast, as he thought it would then be much 
easier for him to watch them on land, and 
believed that a French fleet would surely 
come, in the course of the season, to blockade 
them by sea. He wrote to General Washing¬ 
ton, saying that he was glad of this arrange¬ 
ment; and about the same time the enemy 
got possession of a letter to him from the 
Commander-in-chief in which he spoke of his 
plans for an attack upon New York, and gave 
the Marquis permission to return to head¬ 
quarters and take part in it. This letter made 
the British feel very easy in Virginia, and 
considered New York alone as the place to be 
protected. 

The active campaign of the last four 
months was now exchanged for a steady 
watching of the enemy at Portsmouth, and 
constant communication with head-quarters. 


Age 23] 


ACTIVE OPERATIONS 


85 


On the 20th of July, Lafayette wrote: “I am 
entirely a stranger to everything that passes 
out of Virginia, and Virginian operations 
being for the present in a state of languor, I 
have more time to think of my solitude; in a 
word, my dear General, I am homesick, and 
if I cannot go to head-quarters, wish at least 
to hear from thence. I am anxious to know 
your opinion of the Virginian campaign. . . . 
So long as my lord wished for an action, not 
one gun has been fired; the moment he de¬ 
clined it, we have been skirmishing; but I 
took care never to commit the army.” And 
to Colonel Hamilton he wrote, “Independ¬ 
ence has rendered me the more cautious, as 
I know my own warmth.” 

At the end of July he saw the greatest 
part of Cornwallis’ army at Portsmouth 
embark on board vessels which did not im¬ 
mediately sail. He supposed they must be 
going to New York, but in less than three 
weeks found out they were removed to York- 
town and Gloucester Point, where they 
began to fortify. In the mean time he had 
heard from General Washington that the 
French fleet would arrive in Chesapeake Bay, 
instead of New York Harbor. The attack on 
New York was given up, and Virginia was 
to be the scene of action. Lafayette no longer 


86 


LAFAYETTE 


[1781 


regretted that he had been sent away from 
head-quarters. He followed Lord Cornwallis 
and took measures to shut him in completely, 
while the British General felt so secure within 
his fortifications, and with only Lafayette for 
an opponent, that he offered to send some of 
his men to New York. 

Lafayette wrote to his wife, when matters 
were thus far advanced: “It was not prudent 
in the General to confide to me such a com¬ 
mand. If I had been unfortunate, the public 
would have called that partiality an error of 
judgment.” But he had already proved that 
the Commander-in-chief had judged wisely 
of the capacity of his young general. 

About this time Lafayette wanted a spy 
to send into the British camp, and a New 
Jersey soldier named Morgan was pointed 
out to him as a fit person to be employed. It 
is not an easy thing to find a spy: a man must 
be trustworthy and faithful to his own officer, 
and yet willing to deceive the enemy; he must 
be observing, and yet must not appear to be 
getting information. Morgan was unwilling 
to put himself in such a position, but at last 
consented, on condition that, if he should be 
killed, the General would have a full account 
of the case printed in the New Jersey news¬ 
papers, so that no reproach might fall upon 


Age 23] ACTIVE OPERATIONS 87 

his honor. He went to the British camp and 
faithfully obeyed orders. After several weeks 
had passed, thinking he could no longer be 
useful, he came back, and brought with him 
five deserters and a prisoner. The next day 
the General, to reward him, offered to make 
him a sergeant. Morgan thanked him, but 
declined, saying that he thought himself a 
good soldier, but was not certain of being a 
good sergeant. He likewise refused other 
offers. “What can I, then, do for you?” in¬ 
quired Lafayette. “I have only one favor to 
ask,” replied Morgan. “During my absence 
my gun has been taken from me; I value it 
very much and I should like to have it back 
again.” Orders were given that the gun 
should be found, and it was his only reward 
for this difficult, dangerous service. 

On the 1st of September the French fleet, 
under Count de Grasse, arrived. The Marquis 
de Saint Simon immediately landed with 
three thousand soldiers. Lafayette added his 
force to theirs, and took up a strong position 
at Williamsburg. Lord Cornwallis marched 
out, intending to make an attack; but finding 
them so strong, contented himself with im¬ 
proving his fortifications at Yorktown. In 
an engagement at sea between the French 
fleet and the British under Admiral Graves, 


88 


LAFAYETTE 


[1781 


Count de Grasse was victorious, and Lord 
Cornwallis’ confidence began to waver a little 
as he saw himself blockaded on both sides. 

Lafayette was now exposed to a great 
temptation, or what might have been a great 
temptation to a more selfish man. The French 
admiral and the Marquis de Saint Simon 
strongly urged him to make an assault upon 
Yorktown. They said that he had had the 
danger, fatigue, and anxiety of the campaign, 
and that it was but fair that he should have 
the honor of receiving Lord Cornwallis’ sur¬ 
render. But Lafayette would not listen to 
any such proposals. He told them that Gen¬ 
eral Washington and Count Rochambeau 
were already on their way, and that the com¬ 
bined forces would make so large an army 
that Lord Cornwallis would certainly yield 
to a regular siege, and in that way many lives 
would be spared which must be lost in a vio¬ 
lent attack made by his present force. 


SUCCESS THE REWARD OF PATIENCE 

The Commander-in-chief and Rocham- 
beau arrived on the 14th of September, and 
Lafayette saw one of his cherished wishes 
fulfilled when General Washington was at 
the head of the united army of French and 
Americans. Even after their arrival, how¬ 
ever, the whole scheme was put in peril for a 
day by the French admiral’s declaring that it 
was not prudent for him to remain at York- 
town, and that he must put out to sea to meet 
and fight with some new British men-of-war 
which had just arrived at New York. Lafay¬ 
ette, at General Washington’s request, went 
on board the admiral’s ship, and with con¬ 
siderable difficulty persuaded him to wait 
until the seige of Yorktown should be ended. 
Then the works went on; the Americans 
gradually surrounded the town with earth¬ 
works, redoubts, and trenches, and all the 


89 


90 


LAFAYETTE 


[1781 


regular means of besieging a city, while Lord 
Cornwallis continued to strengthen his forti¬ 
fications. 

On the 11th of October the siege was be¬ 
gun by General Washington’s firing the first 
gun. For several days a steady firing was 
kept up on both sides; cannon-balls were con¬ 
stantly crossing each other in the air, and at 
night red-hot shot glared out of the darkness. 
One English ship and some smaller vessels 
were set on fire by them, and as the flames 
ran up to the top of the masts, the sight was 
at once splendid and horrible. The noise of 
the large guns, and of the shells bursting and 
tearing up the ground all about them, was 
perpetual, and added not a little to the dread¬ 
ful effect of the scene. 

On the 14th it was decided to take by 
storm two redoubts, the only defences outside 
the city which the enemy still held. One was 
to be attacked by the French under the Baron 
de Viomenil, the other by the Americans 
under Lafayette. The Baron had said once, 
in conversation, that in an attack of this sort 
he thought the French superior to the Ameri¬ 
cans. Lafayette answered, “We are but 
young soldiers, and we have but one sort of 
tactics on such occasions, which is to dis¬ 
charge our muskets and push on straight 


Age 24] SUCCESS THE REWARD 91 

with our bayonets.” In making his attack, 
Lafayette carried out this plan exactly; he 
thought that only such an impetuous assault 
would enable his inexperienced troops to 
overcome the well-trained British soldiers 
waiting within their fortifications. In a very 
few minutes he took the redoubt, and, as he 
still heard firing from the other, he sent his 
aide to the Baron, to inquire if he should give 
him any assistance, and to say that he had 
won his prize. Viomenil answered, “Tell the 
Marquis that I am not yet master of my re¬ 
doubt, but that I shall be in less than five 
minutes.” And in less than that time he 
entered it with his men, in perfect order. He 
had followed strict military rule, and had had 
the way cleared for him before his onset; but 
while he was waiting his troops were exposed 
to a terrible fire from the enemy. Colonel 
Barber, the aide who carried Lafayette’s mes¬ 
sage, had received a wound, but would not 
allow it to be dressed until he had executed 
his commission. Perhaps he had a little pride 
in showing the French officers how indif¬ 
ferent to pain an American could be. 

After the taking of these redoubts, Lord 
Cornwallis’ position become still more hope¬ 
less; the cannon continued to destroy his 
works, he could do but little to injure the 


92 


LAFAYETTE 


[1781 


French and Americans, and bad weather pre¬ 
vented an escape in boats to Gloucester, 
which he had planned. On the 17th he re¬ 
quested an interview with an American 
officer, that the terms of surrender might be 
agreed upon, and on the 19th his army laid 
down their arms. 

The French and American troops were 
drawn up in long lines, and were quiet and 
orderly as the conquered army passed be¬ 
tween them; but their secret triumph and 
rejoicing must have been great as they saw 
how full the ranks were, and felt how im¬ 
portant a victory they had won. Every one 
was eager to see Lord Cornwallis, but this 
distinguished general did not make his ap¬ 
pearance ; General O’Hara took his place. 

Count Rochambeau, General Washington, 
and Lafayette sent their aides to offer their 
compliments to Lord Cornwallis; who sent a 
message to tell the Marquis that, after having 
made this long campaign against him, he 
wished to give him a private account of the 
reasons which had led him to surrender. The 
next day Lafayette went to see him. “I 
know,” said the English general, “your hu¬ 
manity to prisoners, and I recommend my 
poor army to you.” Lafayette replied, “You 
know, my lord, the Americans have always 



On the 19th the army of Lord Cornwallis laid down its arms. 


93 









































































































Age 24] 


SUCCESS THE REWARD 


95 


been humane towards imprisoned armies. He 
would not accept even a compliment which 
seemed to separate him from his adopted 
countrymen. The other generals also visited 
Lord Cornwallis, and every civility which 
could make his mortifying position more en¬ 
durable was shown to him. 

The Americans knew that they had gained 
a great advantage in taking this army; but 
they were very desirous of closing the cam¬ 
paign by the recapture of Charleston, South 
Carolina, which had been in the possession of 
the enemy since May, 1780. General Greene 
had had a very hard summer, opposed to 
Lord Rawdon from the time that Cornwallis 
had come into Virginia. It seemed easy now 
to give him assistance, when the fleet was 
ready, and the land forces so far on their way 
to the south. Lafayette would again have 
commanded the expedition and would have 
been glad to undertake it with a small army 
which might easily have been transported in 
a few vessels; but the French admiral declared 
that it was his duty to return immediately to 
the West Indies. It is said that when Lord 
Cornwallis saw Lafayette returning from his 
last visit to the admiral’s ship, he said to some 
officers who were with him, “I lay a wager he 
has been making arrangements to ruin us at 


96 


LAFAYETTE 


[1781 


Charleston.” This remark shows that he 
understood Lafayette’s disposition and 
talents. There is every reason to suppose 
that such a scheme would have succeeded. As 
it was not undertaken, the campaign came 
to an end, and the army went into winter- 
quarters. 

During all the time that the French and 
American armies were together, the most 
perfect friendliness prevailed between them. 
The French officers admired Washington 
with the ardor that belongs to their nation, 
and only laughed at the hardships they had 
to bear. And doubtless their example in¬ 
fluenced the common soldiers. On their part, 
all Americans felt themselves under great 
obligations to those who had come so far to 
fight for them. Lafayette mentions, as a 
proof of good feeling, that when the French 
troops under the Marquis de Saint Simon 
joined his, he ordered them to be supplied 
with flour enough to last three days before 
the Americans received any. The latter were 
obliged to live chiefly on Indian meal, but 
were quiet satisfied. He also gave horses to 
the French hussars, while the American 
officers had none, yet he never heard a com¬ 
plaint. Perhaps nothing shows more clearly 
that he felt as an American than his thus 


Age 24] 


SUCCESS THE REWARD 


97 


treating his own countrymen as guests. He 
had taken the precaution before they left 
France to have it settled that they were 
always to be considered as auxiliaries,* and 
that French officers were always to be under 
the orders of Americans of equal rank. 

In November of this year, Lafayette again 
asked leave to return to France, and, with 
the most cordial thanks from Congress, and 
the respect and gratitude of every patriot, he 
once more set sail from Boston. He carried 
with him the consciousness that his services 
to this country had been great and highly 
valued here. His friendship for General 
Washington was one of the delights of his 
life, and he felt sure that the United States 
would always hold a place in his affections 
second only to France. 

No mutiny this time disturbed his voyage. 
He found all things prosperous in his family, 
and he had gained a military reputation 
which made him still more admired than 
before. 

He was commissioned by Congress to 
make arrangements for them in Europe, and 
the next year was chiefly occupied with prep¬ 
arations for a combined expedition from 

* Those who give assistance, but never take the lead. 



98 


LAFAYETTE 


[1782 


France and Spain, which now joined in the 
war against England. The fleet of sixty ves¬ 
sels was to be commanded by Count d’Es- 
taing; the army of twenty-four thousand 
men, by Lafayette. The plan was to sail from 
Cadiz for the island of Jamaica, then to pro¬ 
ceed to New York, and after taking that city 
to go on to Canada. There were so many 
delays in getting together this grand army, 
and arranging all the points of the agreement 
between the nations, that Lafayette was still 
at Madrid when he heard the news of the 
Peace of Paris, which put an end to our Revo¬ 
lutionary war. It was signed in January, 
1783, and he was the first to inform Congress 
of this joyful event. 


FRANCE AS IT WAS 

In the next year, 1784, Lafayette allowed 
himself the pleasure of a visit to the United 
States. He arrived at New York in August, 
went to the south as far as Yorktown and 
Richmond, and paid to General Washington 
at Mount Vernon that visit so often antici¬ 
pated in their letters written by camp-fires 
and amid the hardships of war. He was 
present at the making of a treaty with the 
Indians of the Six Nations, some of whose 
chiefs called him by his old name of Kayewla, 
which they gave him in 1778. He also went 
through the Eastern States, and was every¬ 
where, as Washington wrote to Madame de 
Lafayette, “crowned with wreaths of love 
and respect.” 

He was particularly interested in seeing 
the old soldiers of the army, and often 
touched by finding the children of those who 


99 


100 


LAFAYETTE 


[1784 


had fallen making part of the processions in 
his honor. Every one was eager to see him, 
either from gratitude or curiosity, and his 
reception was cordial and affectionate. 

At the end of November he was again at 
Mount Vernon, and after their parting Gen¬ 
eral Washington wrote this note, so expres¬ 
sive of his affection: “At the moment of our 
separation, upon the road as I travelled and 
every hour since, I have felt all that love, 
respect, and attachment for you, with which 
length of years, close connection, and your 
merits have inspired me. I often asked my¬ 
self, as our carriages separated, whether that 
was the last sight I should ever have of you. 
And though I wished to answer no, my fears 
answered yes.” 

Lafayette would not admit this idea; 
though he saw that his beloved friend was 
never likely to cross the water, he promised 
himself the happiness of several visits at 
Mount Vernon. He could not foresee the 
political storms that were to sweep over his 
life, and he cared little for those he must 
meet on the Atlantic Ocean. 

After a great public entertainment at 
Boston, he embarked on board of French 
frigate, and had a prosperous voyage, bearing 
home with him many bright recollections of 


Age 27] 


FRANCE AS IT WAS 


101 


warm friends and happy hours in the United 
States, and strong hopes for their future 
prosperity. 

He did not find France in an equally 
promising condition. 

The following year, 1785, Lafayette un¬ 
dertook a shorter journey into Austria and 
Russia. Though republicans were not much 
admired in those countries, Lafayette’s dis¬ 
tinguished family connections, and his repu¬ 
tation as a young general, gained for him a 
polite reception. In Prussia, he went to all 
the military reviews in company with the 
king, Frederic the Great, at that time the 
most distinguished soldier in all Europe. 

After his return to France, he gave much 
time and attention to a scheme in which his 
benevolence interested him. He bought a 
plantation at Cayenne, in French Guiana, 
and sent out an excellent superintendent, to 
teach the slaves and to prepare them gradu¬ 
ally for freedom. He had been particularly 
pleased with a school for free-negro children, 
which he had seen at New York, and wished 
at least to try the experiment of training the 
blacks. Difference of color could not check 
his enthusiastic love of liberty. He honestly 
desired that all men, not merely himself and 
his countrymen, should be free; but he had 


102 


LAFAYETTE 


[1785 


the common sense to see that some races of 
men require preparation even for freedom, 
and that a slave, who has all his life been fed 
and clothed by a master, does not know how 
to provide for himself in his old age. 

We now come to a great change in Lafay¬ 
ette’s life. We have seen him fighting for 
freedom, and interested in military affairs;— 
the love of liberty, from this time forth, led 
him to a different work,—to an endeavor to 
reform the government of his country. Other 
men’s minds were full of the same idea, and 
there was a general feeling in Paris, and 
throughout France, that the hour was come 
for a great change. 

It is difficult to explain to those who have 
lived only in the United States how bad the 
French government was, and had been for 
several hundred years. But one great evil, 
which caused many others, was, that the 
kings and the nobles had long believed that 
government was made for their pleasure and 
glory, not for the happiness and welfare of 
the common people. They did not know that 
a few hundred noblemen were but of small 
importance, compared with the hundreds of 
thousands who toiled for their daily bread in 
France; on the contrary, they thought that 


Age 29] 


FRANCE AS IT WAS 


103 


the poor were created to work for them. The 
consequence was, that acts of cruelty to the 
low-born were looked upon with perfect 
indifference by the great lords. One must not 
suppose that there were not kind-hearted 
people among them; then, as now, there lived 
in the world those who delighted to make all 
about them happy, including the peasants; 
but, as a general rule, their lives were full of 
other occupations. Many of them were sol¬ 
diers, and when they were not actually en¬ 
gaged in war made plans for new campaigns, 
or else amused themselves with hunting or 
other sports, never giving any time to think¬ 
ing how the poor people around them lived. 

The king and the royal family, including 
even his distant cousins, must have palaces 
to live in; servants, horses and carriages, and 
money to spend, provided for them out of the 
public wealth; other officials had to be main¬ 
tained; and in times alike of war and of 
peace, there was a great army to be fed and 
clothed. Thus several thousands of idle peo¬ 
ple were supported by the industrious; and 
all these ways of pouring out money con¬ 
sumed it much faster than the sale of the 
farmer’s corn, or the weaver’s cloth, or the 
vine-grower’s wine, supplied it. 


104 


LAFAYETTE 


[1787 


But there was no less expense at the court 
because the nation was growing poorer. The 
ministers had not the courage to tell a King 
of France that he could not have anything he 
desired; and so he and all those who lived at 
court went on spending money for trifles, 
while the peasant and the shop-keeper were 
pressed harder and harder with taxes to pay 
upon everything they ate or drank, or bought 
or sold. A tax upon salt, which is so con¬ 
stantly in use, caused great distress. Any 
person could be licensed to sell salt, if he 
would pay a large sum to the government. 
Of course, then, the seller asked the highest 
possible price for it, because he wanted to 
secure his own profit in addition to what he 
had to pay over to the government. Thus 
hard men were more likely to undertake the 
business than any others, because asking such 
high prices made them very much disliked. 
France was divided into districts, in some of 
which the people were compelled to buy a 
certain quantity of salt every year; in others, 
they did as they chose. This made one hard¬ 
ship the more; for a poor man who lived in 
one district might be ruined by being forced 
to buy a great quantity, while his near neigh¬ 
bor was perhaps free from any restraint in 
the matter. 


Age 29] FRANCE AS IT WAS 105 

And this is only a sample of the way taxes 
were paid for everything. This salt-tax—the 
gabelle, as it was called—was much talked 
about, and was very irritating to the poor 
people; but the real suffering was owing to 
the great number of taxes. 

An English traveller, passing through 
France at this time, says of what he saw in 
one day’s journey, “The fields are scenes of 
pitiable management, as the houses are of 
misery”; and again, “All the country girls 
and women are without shoes or stockings, 
and the ploughmen at their work have 
neither sabots* nor feet to their stockings.” 

And, two years later, the same traveller, 
in walking up a hill, chanced to overtake a 
poor woman, who seemed unhappy, and com¬ 
plained of the times. When he asked ques¬ 
tions, she told him that she was married and 
had seven children; that her husband had 
but a small bit of ground, a little horse, and 
a cow, yet they had to pay 42 pounds of wheat 
and three chickens to one great lord, and 168 
pounds of oats, one chicken, and one franc 
to another, besides several very heavy taxes. 
She said she hoped something would be done 
for poor people, for the taxes were crushing 


* Wooden shoes. 



106 


LAFAYETTE 


[1787 


them. She was twenty-six years old, but her 
figure was so bent, and her face so wrinkled, 
that she might have been taken for sixty. 
And she was only a specimen of the women 
that were to be seen almost everywhere in 
France. It was not uncommon for the poor 
people to gather nettles to make soup of. 

When a nobleman heard of some unfor¬ 
tunate wretch dying of hunger, no doubt he 
might feel sorry for a few minutes; but he 
was not apt to think what could be the rea¬ 
son, or if he himself could do anything to 
remedy it. And here was a point in which 
Lafayette was quite different from other peo¬ 
ple of his own rank and age. He did think 
about the condition of working-people, and 
longed to make them happier and better; 
he believed freedom would do that. 

Such a state of things could not last for¬ 
ever; when people are perfectly miserable, 
they grow restless and fierce. This was the 
case in France. A great many people in a 
middle condition of life, neither very rich 
nor very poor, were fired with ideas of liberty 
and equality; they began to ask why dukes 
and counts were better than themselves, and 
why some lives were passed in ease and lux¬ 
ury, and others in toil and want and pain. 
There can be no doubt, too, that the accounts 


Age 29] FRANCE AS IT WAS 107 

of the United States brought home by the 
soldiers and officers who had served there 
helped to keep up the excitement. It had 
been proved there that contentment and 
prosperity could be found without a king, 
without a court, without an order of priests, 
and, above all, without so many taxes. 

At this time (1787) Louis the Sixteenth, 
who was the king of France, was a just and 
humane man, who would have been very 
glad to do whatever he could to make his 
subjects happier; but he did not know how 
or where to begin. 

One thing was certain,—that the govern¬ 
ment needed money; and in order to raise 
it, the king’s ministers advised him to call a 
meeting of the Notables of France. These 
were the princes, brothers or cousins of the 
king; some dukes and counts, marshals of 
France, and other military officers; several 
bishops and magistrates. They met in Feb¬ 
ruary, 1787, and began to consider what 
could be done about the national debt and 
taxes. A hundred and sixty years had passed 
since they were last called together, and all 
the old rules of business were forgotten. 

Lafayette took his place among the 
nobles, and spent much time upon a plan for 
reducing the debt and expenses. He also 


108 


LAFAYETTE 


[1787 


brought forward several proposals for limit¬ 
ing the king’s power. One of these was, that 
he should no longer have the right to send 
a person who had displeased him to prison 
without any accusation, and without any 
trial or chance to defend himself. Such a 
prisoner had no hope of release except from 
the king’s mercy, and might die in his cell, 
forgotten. Another proposal was to grant 
greater liberty to Protestants, who were, 
however, in the enjoyment of a large mea¬ 
sure of freedom. 

Finding that the Notables were not doing 
much work, Lafayette suggested that the 
king should be asked to summon a National 
Assembly. “What!” said the Count d’Artois, 
the king’s brother, “do you make a motion 
for the States-General?” “Yes, and even 
more than that,” was his answer. 


CHANGES 

The States-General were composed of 
representatives from the nobles, the clergy, 
and the third estate, or common people of 
France. They had not met for a hundred 
and seventy-five years, and had in former 
times been most submissive to the kings; but 
there was little hope of making any change 
without them, and they only had the right 
to alter the government. 

They met on the 4th of May, 1789, in a 
hall at Versailles which the king had pre¬ 
pared for them, and where he came with 
the queen to receive them. 

It is difficult to imagine now the excite¬ 
ment which there was then in Paris and 
throughout all the large towns of France. 
The kingdom was poorer than it had been 
the year before,—everything was dear, com¬ 
plaints were loud. Men left their offices and 
109 


110 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


their workshops to make speeches and to 
become national deputies;* the newspapers 
were full of articles on liberty and the rights 
of man; new pamphlets were printed every 
day, and eagerly read by a few of those who 
were suffering under real wrongs, and by 
all the foolish people who fancied they 
should be the happier for being as idle as 
the counts and marquises they pretended to 
despise. Every one, except the court and 
those who were satisfied with the kingdom 
as it was, looked forward with hope to the 
meeting of the States-General, not knowing 
what would befall them, but trusting to 
secure freedom and many other good things. 
Politics were the one thing everybody cared 
for, not only in Paris, but in all the towns 
of France. A stranger in the city writes: 
“I went to the Palais Royalf to see what 
new things were published. Every hour pro¬ 
duces something new. Thirteen pamphlets 
came out to-day, sixteen yesterday, and 

ninety-two last week.Nineteen 

twentieths of these productions are in favor 
of liberty, and commonly violent against the 
clergy and nobility.” The coffee-houses were 
always open, and orators declaimed in the 


* Members of the States-General, or National Assembly, 
f An old palace, now used in part for shops. 




Age 31] 


CHANGES 


111 


most vehement manner to an excited crowd, 
who loudly applauded anything particularly 
fierce and harsh. 

The king and his ministers were troubled 
and did not know what to do. They felt that 
something would have to be yielded to this 
extraordinary passion for liberty which had 
got possession of some of the nobles and com¬ 
mon people,—they did not at all understand 
the power of the mob, and they were obliged 
to admit that their schemes had not made the 
debt any less. The king’s natural desire to 
secure himself led him to collect a great many 
soldiers in and about Paris, and so many more 
mouths to be filled increased the scarcity of 
flour. He thought the troops would be faith¬ 
ful to him, but experience proved that the 
new ideas of liberty and equality had made 
their way into the army. 

After much trouble in getting ready to 
work, the twelve hundred National Deputies 
(three hundred nobles, three hundred of the 
clergy, and six hundred of the common peo¬ 
ple) began their task; which was, to give 
France a new government. They first de¬ 
stroyed many of the bad laws which had come 
down from old times; they took away power 
from the king and nobles, and forbade many 
of the privileges of the rich and great which 


112 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


had caused suffering among the poor. But 
this was not all. A kingdom cannot exist 
without laws; and while the Assembly was 
talking* and listening to speeches, people 
who had been kept down by fear of the laws 
might do a vast deal of mischief. The Depu¬ 
ties had no hesitation in saying that certain 
punishments should never be repeated in 
France; but then there was a long pause 
before they could make up their minds what 
should take their place. They found building 
up a slower work than pulling down. It was 
easier to make speeches, and set the nation in 
order by adding up figures and writing papers, 
than to supply food for a hungry mob, or 
teach the peasants not to revenge themselves 
on their former masters. 

The French are so easily stirred up that 
merely reading the reports of what was done 
each day in the Assembly added to the excite¬ 
ment of distant towns and villages, and it 
must be remembered that while their minds 
were thus filled with hopes and expectations, 
their real wants of food and clothes and com¬ 
forts had not been relieved. Nor were they 
likely to be during this summer (1789), for 


* A Swiss, who went often to the Assembly, says that each 
man was vain enough to fancy himself equal to the whole 
labor of remodelling the government. 



Age 31] 


CHANGES 


113 


merchants and farmers no longer gave their 
whole attention to business, and the nobles 
began to quit France, taking with them the 
money they had been accustomed to spend 
every year. 

The natural consequences of such a con¬ 
dition were mobs and tumults in the cities, 
the burning of chateaux* and sometimes kill¬ 
ing the lords, in the country. 

Lafayette took part in the labors of the 
Assembly with great spirit. He welcomed 
everything which was at all like the laws and 
customs of the United States, and his letters 
to General Washington were full of hope. He 
excused the outbreaks, alarming as they were, 
on account of the long suffering of the people. 

But a more serious one took place in Paris 
when the citizens heard that Monsieur 
Necker, a popular minister, had been dis¬ 
missed, and that the troops were drawing 
nearer to Paris, and even entering the city. 
The excitement was intense for several days 
in July, and at last, after some regiments had 
arrived and others were reported, it broke out 
into a universal demand for arms. The mob 
entered shops or public offices where they 
thought any guns could be found, and all 


* The country-houses of the nobles, which had generally been 
castles. 



114 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


smiths and armorers worked day and night. 
The great bells sounded the alarm; the sol¬ 
diers, with strange stupidity or indifference, 
did nothing at all; and on the 14th of July an 
armed crowd of volunteers, who believed that 
they could no longer submit to authority, but 
that this day they must “do or die,” accom¬ 
panied by all the rabble of Paris, attacked an 
ancient prison called the Bastille. After a 
short resistance, the few soldiers who de¬ 
fended it were compelled to yield, and the 
commandant was killed in the street. The 
people seemed almost ready to tear down 
with their hands the solid stone walls. 
Furious as they were, however, there was 
some cause for their rage; for terrible deeds 
had been done in that prison. Men had been 
shut up there for half a lifetime, without even 
knowing whether their fathers and mothers, 
wives and children, were still living,—there 
the innocent, upon whom no sentence had 
ever been pronounced, had despaired of see¬ 
ing again the light of day. What sufferings 
and what deaths those walls had concealed 
could never be known; but thinking of them 
might well have maddened a calmer people 
than the Parisians! The few prisoners found 
there were paraded through the streets on 
men’s shoulders, and a sort of wild rejoicing 



On the 14th of July an armed crowd of volunteers attacked 
the Bastille. 


115 



























Age 31] 


CHANGES 


117 


took possession of Paris. In other countries, 
all who loved liberty could not help being 
glad that such a dungeon was destroyed, and 
the key of the great gate was sent by Lafay¬ 
ette to General Washington. 

While all this tumult was stirring Paris, 
the Assembly at Versailles were bent on mak¬ 
ing the king withdraw his troops. They sent 
to him three times during the day, and con¬ 
tinued sitting nearly all night. The next day 
he suddenly agreed to their request; all was 
rejoicing at Versailles, and Lafayette with 
several other deputies was sent to Paris with 
the good news. The city, calmed from the 
frenzy of the day before, received them joy¬ 
fully, and Lafayette was appointed, by accla¬ 
mation, commander of the National Guard. * 
From this time forward, we find him hard at 
work in Paris, and seldom able to take his 
place in the Assembly. 

He immediately published an order for 
pulling down the Bastille, and began to ar¬ 
range and divide the National Guard. He was 
exceedingly desirous that they should be 
citizens as well as soldiers, obeying the laws 
and magistrates as well as their officers. Sev- 


* He suggested this name for the volunteers of Paris,—citi¬ 
zens who were armed and drilled, and performed some of the 
duties of police. 



118 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


eral regiments of the army insisted on joining 
it; but Lafayette would never allow it to be 
merely a military establishment. He set them 
the example of respect for law, by insisting 
upon a regular vote for his own office, several 
days after his public appointment. “Lafay¬ 
ette enjoyed at once that entire confidence 
and public esteem which are due to great 
qualities. The faculty of raising the spirits, 
or rather of infusing fresh courage into the 
heart, was natural to him. His appearance 
was youthful, which is always pleasing to the 
multitude. His manners were simple, popu¬ 
lar, and engaging.” 

It was not strange that obedience was rare 
in these days, for no one had any authority. 
The king’s power was growing less and less; 
he was obliged to let his soldiers join the 
National Guard, because they had already left 
their quarters, and were wandering about the 
streets of Paris; the judges and other magis¬ 
trates appointed by him were disliked and 
suspected; the assembly at Versailles had 
hardly begun to “make the Constitution;”* 
and there was no strong hand to govern. The 
people, crushed by long oppression, and now 


*A favorite French expression at that time; but a constitu¬ 
tion is not a machine, to be made,—it must grow in part, at 
least, from the habits of a nation. 



Age 31] 


CHANGES 


119 


aroused to vengeance rather than improve¬ 
ment, were totally unfit to govern themselves. 

The National Guard were needed in Paris 
to clear the streets, to prevent thieves from 
stealing by day as well as by night, to save 
unpopular persons from being hung upon 
lamp-posts, and to make the city safe for 
peaceable people. All sorts of vile wretches, 
who at common times keep out of sight in the 
side streets and dingy shops of great cities, 
now came boldly forth, and in the name of 
liberty sought for chances to commit crimes. 
The crowds of idle people constantly drawn 
together by street-orators were easily roused, 
even to the point of putting to death; and 
there seems no reason to doubt that men were 
actually hired by some of the nobles to join 
these crowds and stir them up to every kind 
of mischief and cruelty. The design was to 
bring the revolution into disgrace, and make 
it appear that liberty led to violence. 

This was precisely what Lafayette was 
resolved to prevent. Liberty and order were 
connected in his mind; freedom did not mean 
that the wicked only were free to do all the 
evil they might feel disposed to, but that the 
good and the industrious were to have liberty 
to keep all they could earn, and to live as they 
desired. 


120 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


It is hard to imagine the restlessness and 
excitability of the people of Paris which 
Lafayette was constantly made to feel. About 
this time there was for several weeks a great 
scarcity of flour, and the magistrates did not 
know how to get enough into the city to feed 
the inhabitants, and the great number of 
strangers who flocked thither. The bakers 
were in a good deal of danger, for sometimes 
the mob would fancy that they concealed 
great quantities of flour in their shops. Sev¬ 
eral notes were shown to Lafayette forbid¬ 
ding the millers to grind for the capital, and 
to his surprise he found his own name at the 
bottom. It was of course a forgery. But what 
could the poor people think, when they saw 
such an order? One day, a little while after 
Lafayette had taken command of the National 
Guard, a great public meeting of tailors was 
called. He went to it, and made a speech 
which probably prevented mischief. It was 
afterwards found that this meeting was called 
merely to delay the finishing of the uniform 
of the Guard. They would be more easily dis¬ 
tinguished in a crowd by wearing a uniform, 
and so have more power to stop outbreaks; 
and there were people enough in Paris ready 
to do anything that would keep up disturb¬ 
ances. 


Age 31] 


CHANGES 


121 


Lafayette led a most active life. He was 
constantly on horseback, riding about the 
city, consulting with the magistrates, address¬ 
ing the people. One day it was an oration to 
the officers of the National Guard,—the next, 
an appeal to a dirty, disorderly mob to be 
patient, to wait for the constitution they were 
making at Versailles. He had great power 
over them; often when they were hungry and 
savage, ready to throw stones, or even to hang 
a man at a lamp-post, a few kind words from 
him, or sometimes a little jest, would make 
them good-natured. The trouble was, that 
they collected in such huge groups that his 
voice could not be heard by the distant ones. 
For instance, within a week of his appoint¬ 
ment, two men were hung in the street, in 
spite of his most vigorous efforts. He was so 
much disturbed by this violence that he re¬ 
signed his office, but the entreaties of the 
most respectable citizens of Paris prevailed 
upon him to take it again. 

In this manner the summer was passed in 
Paris. By great and steady exertion, Lafay¬ 
ette and the mayor succeeded in getting 
quietly through the weeks of greatest scar¬ 
city. The price of bread was very high and 
the loaves were very poor; but, in spite of 
hunger and impatience, the mob did not again 


122 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


take up arms. They could not at all under¬ 
stand why the pulling down of the Bastile, 
and the appointment of the National Guard 
instead of soldiers, had not immediately given 
bread to the poor, and ease and comfort to 
every man. They wondered why the king’s 
consenting to their demands, and being called 
the Restorer of French liberty, did not at 
once remedy all the mischief of bad govern¬ 
ment for hundreds of years. But, although 
puzzled, the Parisians waited for the constitu¬ 
tion which was making at Versailles with 
more patience than the country-people did. 
Gaunt, thin, fierce-looking men attacked and 
burnt the country-houses of the great lords, 
whose families did not always escape with 
their lives. The peasants had suffered ter¬ 
ribly, and it was not strange if they were at 
first more furious than the citizens of Paris, 
for they knew less of what was going on at 
Versailles, and had less to divert their minds. 
The land lay neglected and full of nettles and 
briers, for the peasants were so weak, so 
hungry, and so ill-paid, that they had no heart 
to work. They said that all their earnings 
went to buy salt, to support the nobles and to 
pay taxes. And so, when the time came, they 
took revenge on all who had oppressed them, 
or who belonged to the higher classes. Often 


Age 31] 


CHANGES 


123 


the innocent wife or child or sister of a great 
lord suffered with him, for not only his own 
hard acts, but for those of his grandfather or 
great-grandfather. Brigands was the com¬ 
mon name for the most atrocious of these 
people; and at any time a panic could be 
caused in any city, even Paris itself, by a 
report that the brigands were coming. The 
news of all these distresses came to Paris, and 
added to the anxiety of the patriots. 

The quietness of the city was no doubt 
partly due to the National Guard, who be¬ 
came used to acting together, and interested 
in keeping order. They wore a cockade of red 
and blue, the colors * of the city of Paris, to 
which Lafayette had added white, the king’s 
color, to signify that the Guard was faithful 
to the throne. “Gentlemen,” said he to his 
friends at the Hotel de Ville, ** “I bring you a 
cockade which will go round the world !”f 

He was often pressed and urged to take 
command of the National Guard of other 

* In former times a knight was recognized by some ornament 
on his armor, or the colors of the scarf or feathers he wore; 
and so each great family and each city had colors of its own, 
which were shown on banners, on the coverings of horses, on 
the ornaments of buildings, &c. 

**The town-house, or city hall. 

f It has been worn in several countries, but not always by 
people whom Lafayette would have approved of. 



124 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


cities, which was formed on the same plan as 
that of Paris; but he always refused, thinking 
that it was not sufficiently republican for one 
man to have so great power, and also because 
the task of keeping the Parisian mob quiet 
was sufficient to employ all his energy and 
zeal. He had refused the large salary which 
was offered him, but he declared that he did 
not consider the refusal a matter to be proud 
of, and that he should have accepted the 
money if his own fortune had not been suffi¬ 
cient for his expenses. These must now have 
been great, for many Frenchmen wished to 
visit him, and strangers had great curiosity to 
see him, so that his table was often a long one. 


LIBERTY IN OCTOBER 

Early in October, 1789, another outbreak 
occurred. There was at this time a regiment 
called the Body-Guard on service about the 
king’s palace, and the Versailles National 
Guard were sometimes admitted within court 
limits. In addition, the king sent for a regi¬ 
ment called the Flanders. On its arrival, the 
Body-Guard gave a grand dinner of welcome 
After dinner, the king, queen, and dauphin * 
visited the hall, and looked graciously upon 
their defenders. The poor queen, whose court 
was very dull, whose high spirit was every 
day wounded by the king’s inferior position, 
whose hopes even for her little son were be¬ 
ginning to be dimmed, was delighted to hear 
once more a hearty cheer, “Vive le RoiP’f 

*The eldest son of the king of France, 
f Long live the King! 


125 



126 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


Her beauty, the sight of the court ladies 
attending her, the music they heard, and the 
wine they had drunk, all excited the Guards; 
prudence was forgotten; the National As¬ 
sembly near them and the mobs of Paris were 
alike out of sight and out of mind; the tricolor 
cockade was torn from their coats and 
trampled on the floor, amid shouts and cheers 
for the royal family. 

This would have passed off at common 
times as merely the enthusiasm of a military 
dinner; but now there were spies in the court, 
and watchful eyes upon everything that was 
displeasing to the patriots or the mob. This 
feast was reported at Paris, and the people 
immediately said, “How is this? We are starv¬ 
ing and standing in long trains before the 
bakers’ shops, while at Versailles the idle sol¬ 
diers can give dinner-parties!” The account 
was exaggerated, and one Monday morning, 
the 5th of October, the insurrection of women 
began. Early in the day vast numbers of them 
streamed all over the Hotel de Ville, up-stairs 
and down-stairs, to find the Mayor. They 
were poor women, seamstresses, washer¬ 
women, fish-women, coarse and rude, market- 
women, accustomed to talk loudly in their 
stalls. Some of them were bold, noisy, and 
furious; others, more respectable and modest, 


Age 32] 


LIBERTY 


127 


apologized for the behavior of their com¬ 
panions; but they all said the same thing. 
“Bread! bread!” was the universal cry,—“for 
ourselves and for our children!” Some of 
them had seized rusty pikes and old guns, but 
their real power lay in their numbers; they 
had been of course joined by a great many 
men, and they blocked up the streets and 
squares all about the Hotel de Ville. Lafay¬ 
ette, who arrived there early, was obliged to 
sit still on his white charger. Many and many 
a time he addressed them, but they would not 
disperse, and cries of “Let us go to Versailles” 
were mingled with the shout for bread. They 
must have been pretty good-natured, for he 
managed to keep the greater part of them 
standing there for eight hours. But at last he 
could no longer resist them, and sent to 
inquire at the Hotel de Ville if the magis¬ 
trates would permit him to go. They were 
thankful to get rid of the mob upon almost 
any terms, and gave the permission. But this 
was a real proof of courage, that he dared to 
keep an angry crowd waiting while he showed 
this desire to obey the magistrates. 

He provided as quickly as possible for the 
protection of the city, and set forth at the 
head of a strange procession of National 
Guards, accompanied by women, and un- 


LAFAYETTE 


128 


[1789 


happily by the worst and lowest villains of 
Paris, the brigands. 

Messengers had been already sent in haste 
to give warning at Versailles, and thousands 
of women, accompanied by armed men and a 
few cannon, had set out at an earlier hour. 
They found Versailles in a state of agitation 
almost equal to that of Paris. Crowds had 
pressed about the building occupied by the 
Assembly from early morning; the members 
had been disturbed; the courtiers knew not 
what to do, as it was very doubtful if the sol¬ 
diers could be trusted; the king, who was out 
hunting, had been hastily summoned home, 
but had given no orders after he came. 

The troops of women had crowded into 
the Assembly’s hall and eaten sausages there, 
all the while noisily applauding their favorite 
deputies, or bidding the unpopular ones hold 
their tongues. The president had tried in 
vain to restore order. Other women flattered 
the soldiers, and used every kind of persua¬ 
sion to make them, as they said, friends of the 
people. Finally they sent in a committee of 
twelve to speak with the king, who was very 
gentle and courteous to them, so that they 
went out again quite content and pleased, but 
their companions scolded them for bringing 
no bread. 


Age 32] 


LIBERTY 


129 


All was confusion. There were no places 
for this vast multitude to sleep in, when night 
came on. It was almost impossible for them 
to get enough food, for they were very hungry 
after their long march—they were wet and 
cold and forlorn,—not in a state of body very 
favorable to good temper or good behavior. 

Lafayette arrived a little before midnight, 
and went first to see the President of the 
Assembly, whom he found very anxious; then 
he proceeded to the palace, in company with 
two commissioners from Paris, who made 
their requests to the king. 

He agreed to all they asked, and one point 
was, that he should come and live in Paris. 
The courtiers and attendants were alarmed 
and restless; the king seemed uncertain; the 
queen alone kept a firm countenance, how¬ 
ever terrified she may have been in her heart. 
Lafayette provided as well as he could for the 
defence of the palace during the night, but he 
was not allowed to place the National Guard 
in any but the outer posts. Leaving all quiet 
there, he went to find accommodations for the 
Guard for the rest of the night, and consulted 
with his officers in a room which he intended 
to use as headquarters. 

After so long a day of activity and anxiety, 
he was just throwing himself down to get a 


130 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


little sleep, when an alarm came from the 
palace, that the brigands had broken into the 
queen’s apartments and were massacring the 
Body-Guard! He rushed to the palace, and 
found that the mob had indeed burst in, but 
that only two of the Body-Guard had been 
killed. The queen was saved by their devo¬ 
tion;—while fighting desperately they had 
cried out, Save the queen! and an officer flew 
to the door of her room and alarmed her 
ladies. Hastily wrapping something around 
her, they all took refuge in the king’s apart¬ 
ments. Lafayette by great exertions suc¬ 
ceeded in clearing the palace, and saving the 
Body-Guard and other troops from the fury 
of the mob; but it was necessary for them to 
put on the tricolor cockade, which they had 
thrown down a few days before. 

A scene took place which shows the nature 
of the French and of soldiers generally. The 
National Guard had come to Versailles indig¬ 
nant at the Body-Guard and their dinners; 
but when this alarm was given, the first com¬ 
pany that reached the spot was one of grena¬ 
diers who had fought in former years in com¬ 
pany with the Body-Guards. All quarrels 
were forgotten; they remembered only that 
they were brothers-in-arms, and saved them. 


Age 32] 


LIBERTY 


131 


Lafayette now placed the National Guard 
everywhere, with solemn charges to protect 
the royal family. He then proceeded to the 
balcony and harangued the multitude who 
filled the court below; he did not hesitate to 
rebuke them for their violence, and assured 
them of the king’s intention to come to Paris. 
The king himself appeared and confirmed it, 
and then Lafayette said to the queen, 
“Madame, what is your own intention?” “I 
know the fate which awaits me,” she an¬ 
swered; “but it is my duty to die at the king’s 
feet and in my children’s arms.” “Come with 
me, Madame,” said he. “What! alone on the 
balcony! Have not you seen the signs they 
have made!” “Yes, Madame, but come.” She 
stepped forward with her children, but a voice 
cried “No children!” and she gently pushed 
them back and advanced alone before the 
angry mob. She was terribly unpopular. 
They hated her because she was an Austrian, 
and because they thought she advised the 
king against all the plans for their good. 
False stories too had been cruelly told about 
her, years before, so that she had long been 
an unhappy lady; and now you can imagine 
her heart was almost breaking with fear and 
with humiliation at being in the power of the 
crowd whom she had been taught to despise. 


132 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


They could not help admiring her as she stood 
before them, so beautiful, so brave, and so dig¬ 
nified. Lafayette could not make himself 
heard above the tumult, so he knelt down and 
kissed the queen’s hand. When they saw that, 
they cried out “Vive le General! Vive la 
Reine!” * 

Then the king said to Lafayette, “And 
now what can you do for my Guards?” “Bring 
one here,” was Lafayette’s answer, and, giv¬ 
ing him his own tricolor cockade, he em¬ 
braced him before all the people, who then 
shouted for the Body-Guard. By these acts 
Lafayette endeavored to teach them that 
their own liberty need not interfere with 
respect for the queen, and that they might be 
merciful to an enemy whom they had con¬ 
quered. They knew well enough that he was 
their friend, and he wanted them to see that 
he meant to be the queen’s at the same time. 

The morning was spent in hasty prepara¬ 
tion for the departure for Paris. Kings and 
queens do not generally move from palace to 
palace in such haste, and the ladies in waiting 
were too frightened to pack trunks. The mob 
emptied the magazines of Versailles, and 
fancied that they should supply Paris with 


*Long live the General! Long live the Queen! 




The strange procession that set out at one o’clock. 


133 



Age 32] 


LIBERTY 


135 


the cart-loads of grain which formed a part 
of the strange procession that set out at one 
o’clock. The National Guard walked before 
and behind the royal carriage; the National 
Assembly followed in a long line of coaches, 
and the mob filled up all spaces. Women 
seemed to be everywhere, and, though Lafay¬ 
ette rode by the side of the king’s coach, he 
could not always prevent the queen’s hearing 
some of the rude speeches of these dirty, 
coarse women. They were no longer furious; 
the city of Paris had sent out after them cart¬ 
loads of loaves, and they connected in some 
unreasonable way the king’s living in Paris 
with a supply of provisions. One of them 
called out, “Courage, friends!—we are bring¬ 
ing you the baker, the baker’s wife, and the 
baker’s boy!” This is not the language queens 
are used to hear, but it was much better than 
threats or insult. 

Moving slowly, this train arrived at Paris 
in the evening; and the royal family were first 
taken to the Hotel de Ville, where the king 
got out of his carriage and showed himself to 
the people, wearing the tricolor cockade. He 
desired the mayor to say that he came to live 
among his people of Paris with pleasure and 
confidence. The mayor, in repeating, forgot 
the word confidence; the queen reminded him 


136 


LAFAYETTE 


[1789 


of it, and he, turning again to the crowd, said, 
“Gentlemen, in hearing it from the queen’s 
lips, you are more fortunate than if I had not 
made the mistake.” At last they were able to 
go to the palace of the Tuileries, which was 
not at all ready for them, but any resting- 
place must have been welcome after such a 
terrible day and night. 

All the royal family, the king’s aunts and 
sister as well as himself, expressed much 
gratitude to Lafayette for his services during 
this trying time. Even the queen, who dis¬ 
liked him, acknowledged that he had saved 
their lives. It was no easy matter in these 
days to serve the queen; for the aversion to 
her was extraordinary, and was not at all con¬ 
fined to the people of Paris. 


DOUBTS 

The royal family were now to live at the 
Tuileries in a monotonous, lonely way. The 
nobles had been for many months leaving 
France to seek safety by living in foreign 
lands, and the court was thin and small. The 
queen occupied herself with her children, and 
with writing letters; she had many plans of 
escaping from Paris to join the emigrant 
nobles and her own family. The king lamented 
the loss of his hunting, and amused himself as 
best he could. When they drove about Paris, 
they were always well received by the people. 

For a few days after their arrival, all was 
joy and rejoicing; but before the end of Oc¬ 
tober a baker’s shop was broken into, and the 
baker killed. This outrage Lafayette promptly 
punished, but it was found necessary to put 
the city under martial law; that is, to give to 
137 


LAFAYETTE 


138 


[1789 


officers the power, if necessary, to shoot or 
hang a man without his being tried. 

At this time clubs were beginning to come 
into fashion in Paris. They were not like the 
English one, places for comfort, but for polit¬ 
ical discussion; and generally the most fiery 
and abusive speeches were made at them. An 
immense excitement was kept up in this way. 
The most famous was the Breton, afterwards 
the Jacobin club. Lafayette’s friends tried to 
form a milder, more respectable one; but it 
failed. 

There was far more trouble in the country 
than in Paris during the winter of 1789-90; 
but all the outbreaks were reported in the 
city and to the Assembly, which went on 
making new laws and speeches, all the time. 
People must have read nothing but news¬ 
papers and pamphlets in those days, to judge 
by the hundreds that were sold; while in cer¬ 
tain places the walls of the city were covered 
with huge placards, fresh every day. 

As the spring opened, Lafayette some¬ 
times resumed his place in the Assembly; he 
took part in discussions relating to the ter¬ 
rible riots at Marseilles, and to the conduct of 
the Duke of Orleans, the king’s cousin, who 
was an exceedingly difficult person to manage. 


Age 32] 


DOUBTS 


139 


Early in June, he brought forward a pro¬ 
posal that no person should ever command 
the National Guard of more than one depart¬ 
ment of France. This was agreed to and be¬ 
came a law, which proves Lafayette’s forbear¬ 
ance, for he must have anticipated that in the 
course of a few weeks several commands 
would be offered to him. A project for the 
meeting of deputies from all the National 
Guards of the kingdom was much talked of, 
and the day selected for it was the fourteenth 
of July, the anniversary of the surrender of 
the Bastile. 

In June, also, a decree was passed abolish¬ 
ing titles of all sorts, the use of liveries for 
servants, and some other distinctions which 
had been very common among the nobles. 
Lafayette was strongly in favor of these 
changes, as he desired to see republican sim¬ 
plicity take the place of ancient forms. 

One incident of this spring shows his 
energy and popularity. A man who had 
stolen a bag of oats was beaten to death (as 
Lafayette thought) by a mob. He was going 
home in his carriage when he heard of the 
affair, and instantly pressed into the thickest 
of the crowd and inquired who had killed 
him. A man being pointed out by the Guards, 
Lafayette seized him by the collar and 


140 


LAFAYETTE 


[1790 


dragged him to prison, reproaching the people 
for their offence. When he came out of the 
prison, he ordered the Guards to move off, 
and again, standing quite alone, rebuked the 
mob. He told them they were the dupes of 
artful men who endeavored to stir them up, 
and who hoped by such tumults to bring dis¬ 
grace on true liberty, and to drive the king 
and the Assembly from Paris; but that he 
was resolved to maintain order. While he was 
speaking, the thief, who had appeared to be 
dead, came to life, and the people on the edge 
of the crowd were beginning to hang him, 
when Lafayette and the Guards rescued him. 
He then for the third time addressed the 
people, and ordered them to disperse, which 
they did with shouts of “Vive Lafayette!” 

The 14th of July, 1790, is known under 
various names, as the celebration of the anni¬ 
versary of the destruction of the Bastile, the 
Feast of Pikes, and the Federation of the 
National Guard. Guards came to Paris from 
twenty-three departments of France, to 
swear fidelity to “the Nation, the Laws, and 
the King; to maintain the Constitution; and 
to protect the lives and property of all.” The 
oath was taken upon what was called “the 
Altar of our Country,” which was built in the 
centre of an enclosure, surrounded with a 


Age 32] 


DOUBTS 


141 


grassy bank, on which were seats for three 
hundred thousand spectators (it was sup¬ 
posed). The raising of this bank in the 
Champ de Mars* had been one of the extra¬ 
ordinary sights of the time. It was found 
that the hired laborers would not finish it in 
time, and all sorts of people had joined in the 
work; deputies, lawyers, courtiers, priests, 
mechanics, idlers, ladies, had all filled and 
wheeled their barrow full of earth, to prepare 
for the great festival. All was ready for the 
14th, and the grand arch of entrance, the 
altar, and the royal tent were decorated with 
the taste for which Parisians are always re¬ 
markable. The people poured out of the city 
at an early hour, and the grassy banks were 
soon turned into a circle of gay colors; but 
the day was showery, and the bright dresses 
were often hidden by umbrellas. 

Through the high gate came rank after 
rank of National Guards, soldiers, sailors, the 
mayor and magistrates of Paris, the king and 
queen, (to whom all this show was but a sad 
sight) and the National Assembly. The 
people cheered their favorite deputies, but 
Lafayette was now their idol. The king had 
intrusted to him the giving of all orders 


* A field in the southwest part of the city, used for military 
reviews. 



142 


LAFAYETTE 


[1790 


within the enclosure, and he was for that day 
the most powerful man in all France,—Major 
general of the whole National Guard, which 
perhaps included three millions of men. He 
had arranged a system of signals and ex¬ 
presses, by which news was to be carried all 
over the kingdom as fast as possible. He was 
the first person who mounted the steps of the 
altar and took the oath. As soon as he had 
finished speaking, the whole body of Guards 
cried out, “I swear!” and, as there were about 
fourteen thousand present, the words must 
have been lost in a roar. The king and the 
president of the Assembly also took the oath, 
and cannon were fired. Through the day 
there were shows and rejoicings, and at night 
there were illuminations. 

On the 16th of July the representatives of 
the National Guard of several different 
places, then assembled in Paris, made an 
address to Lafayette, expressing their regret 
that the law he had himself proposed made 
it impossible for them to unite under his com¬ 
mand, as they would gladly have done. 

From all this rejoicing, one might imagine 
that the troubles of the nation were over, and 
that a time of ease and quiet was coming. 
The king seemed to have submitted to the 
people’s will, and the National Guard might 


Age 33] 


DOUBTS 


143 


be thought a sufficient protection against the 
mob. But Lafayette could not yet relax his 
watchful control of the city of Paris,—a very 
small excitement still collected a crowd ready 
for all mischief, and he was always suspicious 
of the nobles’ endeavoring to rouse the bad 
part of the population. Those who were still 
in France and those who had taken refuge in 
other countries all hated the revolution, and 
some of them were ready to do anything that 
would make it odious. 

From the country, too, still came reports 
of outbreaks; of crowds demanding bread 
and vengeance; of burning castles and fields 
uncultivated. 

But even at this time Lafayette’s whole 
thought was not given to his own country; 
he took a warm interest in a revolution in 
Belgium, and the liberal party there seem to 
have looked upon him as almost their chief. 

The winter had passed away without dis¬ 
turbance, though not without alarms, until 
the 28th of February, when Lafayette re¬ 
ceived information that there was a chance 
of an outbreak at the old disused prison of 
Vincennes. He left a battalion near the pal¬ 
ace of the Tuileries, and set forth himself for 
Vincennes. He found a crowd just beginning 
to demolish the prison, and took the ring- 


144 


LAFAYETTE 


[1791 


leaders to jail, after having threatened to 
bring cannon against one of the gates of the 
city which was shut behind him. As he rode 
home, several shots were fired at him and his 
officers, and one man tried to bring down his 
horse in order to get closer aim, but a gren¬ 
adier’s bayonet saved him. The report, how¬ 
ever, was spread that he was killed. 

In another part of Paris, a different scene 
was taking place. An unusual number of 
gentlemen had been all day about the palace 
of the Tuileries, and some of them had in¬ 
vited the National Guard to drink with them. 
Towards evening it was discovered that they 
were armed, and no one seemed to know 
exactly what they had come for. The king 
came out of his apartments to see them, and 
they loudly asserted that Lafayette had been 
killed. When poniards were shown, the king 
seemed disconcerted, and the officer in com¬ 
mand of the National Guard stoutly refused 
to believe the death of Lafayette. He arrived 
in the midst of confusion, and, seeing a great 
basket of weapons, immediately ordered the 
gentlemen to be put out of the palace. 

This was done and quiet was restored 
within the Tuileries, but the two affairs to¬ 
gether had given Lafayette a vexatious day. 
He believed that the tumult at Vincennes had 


Age 33] 


DOUBTS 


14S 


been excited by the enemies of the revolution, 
and that if he had been killed these knights 
of the poniard, as they were called, would 
have persuaded the king to go off with them. 

Lafayette could not be so much at the 
palace and so often with the king as he was 
now, without seeing that there was a great 
chance the king would follow the example of 
the great lords and make his escape from 
France. The queen could not be contented 
with her present mode of life; the palace was 
gloomy and sad; her former friends and the 
courtiers she had long known had deserted 
her; she did not understand these new ideas 
of liberty for the people; she had never been 
taught to think of her subjects except to be 
kind and polite to those about her; and she 
had not had pleasant lessons in freedom, see¬ 
ing her palace surrounded by a mob ready to 
kill her, and being insulted in the streets as 
she sometimes had been. She had sense 
enough to see that the king’s power would 
never be restored to him, that her son would 
not succeed to such a throne as her husband 
had, and in her melancholy moments she was 
afraid for all their lives. Her brother was a 
powerful emperor,—was it strange that she 
thought, if she could but go to him, he would 
give the king and his old friends an army, and 


146 


LAFAYETTE 


[1791 


they should come back victorious over their 
enemies? Of course she urged the king to go 
while yet he was able. Lafayette and other 
persons were always encouraging him that 
all would end well; and he wavered, some¬ 
times acting on one side, sometimes on the 
other. 

There was no reason to suppose that she 
or the king expected this collection of people 
at the palace, but they probably would not 
have come if they had believed the royal 
family were entirely content. 

After this, however, the king used, in 
speaking to Lafayette, such strong expres¬ 
sions of determination to abide by the con¬ 
stitution, that the latter assured the public, 
on his life, that the royal family would re¬ 
main in Paris. 

During the spring of 1791, discussions 
were going on in the National Assembly 
which interested Lafayette very much. One 
related to the position of the clergy; another 
to the condition of the negroes in the French 
colonies. In both cases he was of course in 
favor of the greatest liberty that could exist 
at the same time with good order. 

In April he was for the first time dissatis¬ 
fied with the conduct of the National Guards. 
The king desired to spend a few days at Saint 


Age 33] 


DOUBTS 


147 


Cloud, a palace in the country, about four 
miles and a half southwest of Paris; there he 
wished to pass Easter week, to hear mass and 
confess in his favorite church. As soon as the 
rumor of this got abroad, all sorts of stories 
were started; it was said that thousands of 
men with poniards lurked in ambush in the 
woods, and would immediately overpower 
the National Guard and carry off the king. 
When the royal carriage was driven to the 
front of the palace, the great bell of the near¬ 
est church began to ring, and in a moment 
the square was crowded with people. They 
poured in, crying “The king shall not go! we 
will not let the king go!” Lafayette came up 
and addressed them, rode hither and thither 
in vain; and when he gave his orders to the 
Guards, was not at all satisfied with their 
obedience. The king and queen took their 
places; the coachman cracked his whip and 
the horses reared, but could do no more, for 
many hands snatched at their bridles. There 
the sovereigns sat for more than an hour, 
waiting, hoping that the tumult would sub¬ 
side, while Lafayette tried his utmost. At 
last he told the king that if his Majesty would 
order him to fire on the crowd he would open 
a passage for the coach; but that was a thing 
Louis the Sixteenth never would do,—allow 


148 


LAFAYETTE 


[1791 


a drop of his subjects’ blood to be shed by his 
command. He said No, and with the queen 
got out of the carriage and went back into 
the palace. Neither of them ever saw Saint 
Cloud again. 

After this, Lafayette proposed to the king 
to declare frankly to the Assembly that while 
he governed as a constitutional king he must 
have for himself, as well as for every other 
person, the right to worship God according 
to his own conscience. The king seemed 
touched by Lafayette’s earnestness, but said 
that he would take a day to decide; and there 
the matter ended. 

Lafayette, wearied alike with the plots of 
the nobles and the tumults of the mob, and 
offended by the want of discipline of the 
Guards, resigned his command. He was, how¬ 
ever, induced by many requests from the 
Guards themselves and from other excellent 
persons, to resume his labors for the public 
quiet. 


A LAMENTABLE FLIGHT 

The next important event was that on the 
night of the 20th of June the king and his 
family escaped from the Tuileries. This was 
not discovered until five or six o’clock in the 
morning of the next day. As soon as Lafay¬ 
ette heard of it, he went immediately to the 
palace, but could get little information from 
the attendants there, and then proceeded to 
the Hotel de Ville. On his way he met crowds 
of people, who were furious against him for 
having allowed the king to escape. He was 
perfectly calm, and, seeing his tranquility, 
they were a little quieted; and he talked with 
them until the Assembly, hearing of his 
danger, sent for him. The deputies asked him 
to provide an escort, that they might all re¬ 
turn together; and he answered “that he 
would provide one out of respect for those 
who had been sent to him, but for himself he 


149 


150 


LAFAYETTE 


[1791 


should go apart, having never been safer, 
for the streets were full of people.” Arrived 
at the Assembly,* he said but few words to 
the members; he found them quite ready 
to give the necessary orders; his aide-de- 
camp was at once sent off in pursuit of the 
king. 

There was much excitement in the streets 
of Paris throughout the day. At the clubs the 
speeches were furious, and Lafayette was 
thoroughly abused. 

The next day the National Guard asked 
leave to repeat their oath of fidelity before 
the Assembly, and Lafayette presented them 
as tried and faithful soldiers and citizens. 

It was soon known that the king had been 
stopped at Varennes. On the 25th of June the 
royal family re-entered Paris, more like cap¬ 
tives than rulers. 

Their flight had been completely misman¬ 
aged. They had gone in one great party,— 
the king and queen, the two children, the 
Princess Elizabeth, (the king’s sister) and 
the children’s governess. They ought to have 
separated and gone in the quietest way; in- 

* The king had left a proclamation, which was brought to the 
Assembly by a M. de la Porte. He was asked how it came to 
his hands, and answered, “With a note.” “Where is this 
note?” said a member. “No, no,” was called out from all 
sides. “It is a confidential note; we have no right to see it.” 




On the 20th of June the king and his family escaped from 
the Tuileries. 


151 

























Age 33 ] A LAMENTABLE FLIGHT 153 

stead of that, they had a showy carriage that 
moved slowly and attracted attention, and 
the king had walked up hills to enjoy the sun¬ 
shine! They were not punctual at the place 
where they expected to meet soldiers, and 
the gentlemen who conducted the business, 
though devoted royalists, do not seem to 
have made good couriers. Common travellers 
went faster every day. Something of the 
queen’s suffering when they were stopped 
may be known from the fact that her beauti¬ 
ful hair turned white in one night. 

Lafayette exerted himself to keep the 
streets quiet as the king passed through 
them, and was successful. There were many 
discontented looks, but no outcries. 

While he went to meet the carriage at the 
gate of the city, a considerable crowd col¬ 
lected about the palace, and attempted to 
seize two of the Body-Guard, who had ridden 
outside the coach of the royal party, dis¬ 
guised as couriers. The queen, seeing him, 
cried out, eagerly, “Monsieur de Lafayette, 
save the Body-Guards!” He secured a safe 
entrance for them all. 

It was his next duty, and a very painful 
one, to inform their Majesties of the Assem¬ 
bly’s decree that there should be a separate 
special guard for each of them and for the 


154 


LAFAYETTE 


[1791 


Dauphin, and that all persons concerned in 
the flight should be immediately examined. 
Also, that the acts of the Assembly would 
become laws without the king’s consent to 
them being asked. The king heard all this 
very calmly, and then said to Lafayette: “I 
tell you frankly that until the last few days I 
thought I was in a whirpool of men of your 
opinion, with whom you surrounded me, but 
that it was not the opinion of France. I have 
seen clearly on this journey that I was mis¬ 
taken, and that it is the common idea.” The 
queen showed more annoyance, but after a 
long conversation with Lafayette was heard 
to say that she was satisfied with him. He 
assured them he would try to make them con¬ 
tent; but his office became far more oppres¬ 
sive to him than it had ever been. He was 
obliged to put more soldiers about the Tui- 
leries, so that the royal family felt painfully 
that they were watched, although a large 
number of their friends, well-known enemies 
of the revolution, were still admitted to visit 
them. Lafayette chose to interpret the As¬ 
sembly’s decrees in the mildest manner, 
though he knew that some of the members 
were not satisfied with his conduct. 

After this attempt at escape, there were 
serious discussions in the Assembly as to 


Age 33] 


A LAMENTABLE FLIGHT 


155 


continuing the monarchy in France, and if 
Louis the Sixteenth should be allowed to 
reign. Some persons proposed to put the little 
Dauphin on the throne and have a regency,* 
but the matter was finally settled as Lafay¬ 
ette and his friends desired. They were 
already disturbed at the violence of some 
deputies and of the clubs, and desired to give 
the new constitution as fair a chance as pos¬ 
sible under the present sovereign, and with¬ 
out any more overthrows. 

But these events and discussions could not 
pass by without exciting some tumult in such 
a city as Paris. 

The 14th of July was celebrated cheer¬ 
fully; but on the 17th a dangerous crowd col¬ 
lected around the altar of the Champ de Mars. 
They pretended that they only wished peace¬ 
fully to sign a petition and then disperse; but 
they lingered many hours, until it became 
necessary for the mayor and Lafayette, with 
a strong body of the National Guard, to 
march against them. With some difficulty 
and some loss of life, the rioters were put 
down; but they had formed wild schemes of 
attacking the Assembly, and the good citi¬ 
zens of Paris felt much relieved when at 


* A regency consists of one or more persons who govern while 
a king is a child or insane,—unfit to rule, for any reason. 



156 


LAFAYETTE 


[1791 


night all ended within the Champ de Mars, 
instead of spreading through the streets, as 
was feared. The mayor and Lafayette were 
both much troubled by the character of this 
outbreak. Barricades* had been erected, and 
the National Guard were fired on more freely 
than ever before; the beginning of the day 
was also bloody, for two old men concealed 
beneath the altar had been killed by the 
crowd. 

The summer was much occupied with the 
revisionf of the constition, and Lafayette 
took an active part in the last debates of the 
National Assembly. The constitution was 
accepted by the king in September, and in 
the same month the Assembly broke up. It 
had done a great work for France. It had 
destroyed many old abuses, given greater 
freedom to the common people than had been 
dreamed of before, secured religious liberty, 
and formed a new system of government. 
Some persons doubted if it had left the king 
sufficient power to be anything more than a 
name and a show; but Lafayette’s chief fear 
was from the violence of certain public men, 

* Barricades are made by piling vehicles, paving-stones, pieces 
of fences, anything the crowd can lay hands upon. When well 
made it is exceedingly hard to climb over them, or to shoot 
people behind them. 

t Examining,—looking over to see what errors there are. 



Age 34 ] A LAMENTABLE FLIGHT 157 

who seemed discontented with the necessary 
restraints of order and law, and who probably 
did not understand the force of their own 
expressions, or their effect on other people. 
Such men had shown, in the discussions re¬ 
lating to a republic, utter indifference to the 
condition and welfare of the king. From this 
time forth Lafayette endeavored to combine 
with his love for the people sincere efforts 
to save the king’s power. 

On the 12th of September, 1791, the day 
the king accepted the constitution, Lafayette 
proposed that all trials for acts connected 
with the Revolution should cease. This was 
adopted by acclamation by the Assembly, 
and set free all who were concerned in the 
king’s flight to Varennes, as well as some of 
the rioters of the Champ de Mars. 

Early in October Lafayette took a most 
affectionate leave of the National Guard of 
Paris. He had always intended to resign his 
command when the constitution should be 
made; and when that Assembly which he 
had been the first to demand broke up, he felt 
that a very solemn and interesting period of 
his own life and his country’s history was 
past. 

His journey from Paris to his home at 
Chavaniac, in Auvergne, was one continued 


158 


LAFAYETTE 


[1791 


triumph. The city of Paris voted him a 
medal and a marble statue of Washington. 
The National Guard of Paris sent him, after 
his retirement, a sword cast from one of the 
bolts of the Bastile. 

For a few months he lived very happily 
in the country, enjoying the great changes 
which he found in the condition of the peas¬ 
ants about him. The priests, however, still 
remained much opposed to the Revolution, 
and he says, in a letter, that “the peasants, 
released from trammels, paying one half less 
than they used to, hardly dare rejoice to be 
free, for fear of losing their souls.” Lafay¬ 
ette was always liberal to every kind of belief 
and worship, but he desired that the clergy 
should not be opposed to the well-being of 
their flocks here on earth. 

Shortly after his retirement some of his 
friends made an effort to elect him Mayor of 
Paris; but a more violent man was successful 
against him. He had not, however, a long 
interval in his public life, for in December the 
king’s ministers announced that three armies 
were to be sent to the borders of France and 
Belgium. Lafayette was to command one of 
them. The king in council hesitated a little 
about appointing him; his minister, M. de 
Narbonne, immediately answered, “If your 


Age 34] A LAMENTABLE FLIGHT 159 

Majesty does not appoint him to-day, the 
national wish will force you to, to-morrow.” 

Lafayette came up to Paris; was politely 
received by the king, and cordially welcomed 
by the Legislative Assembly, which had suc¬ 
ceeded to the National or Constituent As¬ 
sembly. It was composed of new men, and 
Lafayette’s friends now held the place which 
had been occupied by the court party; that 
is, they were now the people opposed to 
changes and to new things, and wishing to 
stand by the government as it was. Lafay¬ 
ette expressed his respect for the Assembly, 
and determination to support the constitu¬ 
tion. The President told him publicly that 
the nation with confidence opposed to its 
enemies “the Constitution and Lafayette.” 
The National Guard lined the streets as their 
former chief left Paris to take his new com¬ 
mand. 

War with Austria was expected and pre¬ 
pared for; but the campaign did not immedi¬ 
ately begin. There were several causes of 
quarrel between Austria and France, but they 
were chiefly stirred up by the emigrant nobles, 
who in their hatred of the new people forgot 
all the horrors of seeing a foreign army enter 
their own country. The king and queen 
wavered. He seems to have wished that the 


160 


LAFAYETTE 


[1791 


constitution might succeed, and to have been 
ready to make great sacrifices for his people’s 
happiness; but he could not bring himself 
heartily to accept this new order of things; 
he had no faith in it, and was always trying 
to avoid doing what the friends of the consti¬ 
tution desired. He constantly disappointed 
them, though they made great sacrifices for 
him. 

The queen was more decided. She corre¬ 
sponded with her own family and the emi¬ 
grants; she would have been thankful to 
have escaped long before their unfortunate 
attempt; and, being a foreigner and hated, 
she had none of the sympathy with the 
French nation which Louis the Sixteenth 
often expressed. And yet even she objected 
to some of the conditions of being restored by 
the emigrants, and she had at different times 
a good deal of intercourse with more violent 
republicans than Lafayette. She seems to 
have fancied herself safer if she could have a 
secret friend in that party of the Assembly 
which seemed to be her bitterest enemies, and 
she spared no pains to secure one. It is said 
that she used bribes of money freely. 

Party spirit ran terribly high in the As¬ 
sembly at this time. Violent language was 
heard on all sides, and the clubs, especially 


Age 34] A LAMENTABLE FLIGHT 161 

the Jacobin, seemed almost as powerful in 
Paris as the Assembly itself. It was an im¬ 
mense association, for it had a society con¬ 
nected with it in every town in the kingdom. 
And from being the name of a club, it became 
the title of the most violent and bloodthirsty 
political party ever known in France, or it 
might be said in the civilized world. 

The ministers, too, quarreled with each 
other, so that there was no peace or order 
anywhere. 

When Lafayette arrived at Metz, his head¬ 
quarters, he devoted himself to improving the 
condition of his army. It had been expected 
that, being a republican, and in favor of 
equality, he would be more indulgent than 
the former generals; but it did not prove so; 
—his desire was to make the army efficient, 
and strict discipline alone would do that. He 
made it understood that every kind of luxury 
and idleness was a sign of aristocracy, and 
that the republican officer or soldier would be 
severe in discipline and simple in habits. 

He was particularly interested in intro¬ 
ducing horse-artillery, which he had seen in 
Prussia, and which has since become famous. 


TROUBLE AT HOME AND ABROAD 

In consequence of the various disagree¬ 
ments already mentioned, the three generals, 
Lafayette, Luckner, and Rochambeau,* were 
summoned to Paris, and detained there for 
some time. It was finally agreed that Lafay¬ 
ette should be the one to enter Belgium, and 
that the minister of war should never change 
the positions of the three armies without 
giving all three generals sufficient time to 
arrange their movements on the same plan. 

War was formally declared in April, and 
while the generals were engaged in the prep¬ 
arations necessary for entering the Low 
Countries, they were startled by a new plan 
suddenly sent to them from Paris. According 
to this, Lafayette was to move with his whole 
army from Metz to Givet, near Charlemont, 

* The general of the French troops in America in 1781. 

162 



Age 34] 


TROUBLE 


163 


a distance of fifty-six leagues* in five days. 
The weather was excessively hot, the troops 
suffered much from their rapid march, and 
the officers had hard work to collect the great 
number of horses necessary to transport the 
heavy cannon and the baggage of a large 
army. But it was done, and Lafayette’s 
enemies in the Assembly, who had hoped that 
a failure would destroy his popularity, were 
for the present disappointed. 

He was of course becoming unpopular 
now with the violent party, on account of his 
devotion to the king, just as in 1787 he had 
been looked upon with horror by the royal- 
istsf for his love of liberty. 

The other parts of the new plan failed, but 
even this slight beginning of active opera¬ 
tions showed that the army could not be 
trusted. Some officers deserted in the night, 
—others threw the troops into confusion on 
the field of battle. 

After these proceedings Count Rocham- 
beau insisted on resigning. Marshal Luckner 
and Lafayette, therefore, remained in com¬ 
mand. During an attack on Flanders by sea, 
Lafayette agreed to occupy an intrenched 
camp at Maubeuge, with eighteen thousand 


* A French league is about two and a half English miles, 
f The king's party. 



164 


LAFAYETTE 


[1792 


men. A few days after he removed thither, 
some little skirmishing engagements with 
the enemy took place, in which Lafayette’s 
young troops showed their excellent discip¬ 
line, and prepared themselves for future dis¬ 
tinction. 

But his great interest even at camp seems 
to have been the state of Paris and the As¬ 
sembly, or rather the Jacobinism which was 
spreading over the whole country. From 
every quarter complaints were brought to 
him of the constantly increasing power and 
violence of this party. He felt their influence 
keenly in the difficulties which were every 
day thrown in his way in relation to provid¬ 
ing for the army. 

After much thought on the subject, he 
decided on writing a letter to the Assembly, 
in which he spoke of the Jacobin faction by 
name, as the enemies and destroyers of real 
liberty. He dwelt on the dangers of France, 
at this moment threatened by enemies with¬ 
out, and agitated within, and he exhorted the 
Deputies to be at once constitutional and just. 
He appealed to the services of his own past 
life as proof of his sincere devotion to the 
people, praised the patriotism and courage 
of his army, and urged loyalty to the king 
and constitution, and the putting down of 


Age 34] 


TROUBLE 


165 


clubs. He also explained the difficulties he 
had had with the ministers, so that this letter 
must have raised up for him many open 
enemies where before he had secret ones. 

It cannot be said to have produced much 
effect on the Assembly. Seventy-five depart¬ 
ments* of France announced their agreement 
with its principles, but the moderate men had 
hardly been at all strengthened by it when 
the horrors of the 20th of June filled all minds 
with consternation. 

On this day an attack was made by the 
mob on the palace of the Tuileries. For 
several hours a great multitude marched 
through the apartments. They insulted the 
king and queen, but did not kill them, and at 
last withdrew in obedience to the mayor, 
Petion. Both he and the Assembly behaved 
very ill; they would not believe that the king 
was in danger, or take any measures for his 
defence. The crowd were armed with axes, 
pikes, knives, or anything they could lay hands 
on; they also carried on high poles various 
inscriptions, such as “Death to tyrants!” and 
symbols, such as a little guillotine, &c. 

The king and queen had been separated. 
A few attendants and some grenadiers were 


* Districts. 



166 


LAFAYETTE 


[1792 


with difficulty collected about the king; they 
drew him a little back into a recessed win¬ 
dow, and put a table before him. And in this 
way he stood for hours watching his people 
as they passed through the room. Men and 
women, alike coarse and rough, spoke to him 
from time to time, compelled him to wear the 
red cap, called the cap of liberty, or claimed 
his consent to certain public measures. “This 
is not the time nor the manner to ask me,” 
said the king, firmly. Louis the Sixteenth did 
not know how to be popular, could not win 
the nation by brilliant acts either in politics 
or war; but he had courage, and could endure. 
On this day a soldier standing near him said 
something of the alarm he must be in. “No,” 
said the king, “I am in no terror; I have 
meant well; I have no fear. Give me your 
hand. Here,” said he, putting the soldier’s 
hand upon his heart. “Does it beat as if I 
were afraid?” It seems that he had expected 
this outbreak, and was quite prepared to lose 
his life in it. For several days his thoughts 
had been turned to heaven rather than earth. 

The queen was in an agony at being sepa¬ 
rated from him, and only the entreaties of 
her attendants, who assured her the king’s 
danger would be increased by her appearance, 
kept her in her private apartments; she was 


Age 34] 


TROUBLE 


167 


obliged to hasten from room to room as the 
crowd broke down doors. The court ladies 
and gentlemen with her were of course unfit 
to resist a furious armed mob. She was not 
called for until some grenadiers had been got 
into the palace, who were ranged on each side 
of her, while a large council-table formed a 
sort of barricade between her and the never- 
ending multitude who swept through the 
rooms she might once have called hers. Pro¬ 
tected by the faithful troops, she listened for 
hours to the horrid cries of the rabble, and, 
however distressed at heart, it is said that her 
face never showed disturbance. Her manner 
was gentle and courteous to all who spoke to 
her. She was obliged to bear the ignominy 
(to her) of putting the red cap on her own 
head, and then on the Dauphin’s. Poor chil¬ 
dren! Imagine how frightened he and his 
sister must have been! 

The princess Elizabeth behaved nobly on 
this day. Early in the affair, she was trying 
to join her brother, when the crowd com¬ 
pelled her likewise to move into a recessed 
window. Mistaking her for the queen, they 
abused her in the most shocking manner. 
Those about her were just on the point of 
exclaiming that she was not the queen, when 
the princess said, “No, no, don’t tell them my 


168 


LAFAYETTE 


[1792 


name; let them take me for the queen.” No 
doubt she was ready to be killed herself in 
order to save her sister’s life. 

This outbreak was prepared by the Jacob¬ 
ins, who made no secret of their intention to 
excite it. 

Lafayette understood this the moment he 
received the news. His grief and horror were 
great, for he was shocked on every point. 
That a mob should appear armed before the 
Assembly, was an insult to the liberty he 
cherished; that such a mob should dare to 
enter the palace, showed the weakness of the 
National Guard; and that the Assembly 
should make no effort to protect the prince, 
who was, in name at least, the head of the 
nation, showed a want of agreement between 
the two chief powers of the constitution. 

He took a resolve—somewhat hopeless, 
indeed—to go to Paris, address the Assembly, 
and see what could be done;—if he could yet 
collect around him a band of true patriots 
strong enough to oppose the Jacobins. 

He reached Paris on the 28th, and im¬ 
mediately said to the Assembly that he had 
come to declare himself the author of the 
letter of the 16th of June, which some persons 
had said was a forgery; to express the sur¬ 
prise and regret of the army at the events of 


Age 34] 


TROUBLE 


169 


the 20th, and to entreat that the Assembly 
would order the punishment of all who stirred 
up such an outbreak,—would resist the ty¬ 
ranny of a party, and cause constitutional 
powers to be everywhere respected. 

His words produced little effect; it was 
clear to him, in the course of a day or two, 
that the Assembly dared not oppose the 
Jacobins. He visited the royal family, who 
received him politely, and with thanks, but 
told him none of their plans.* He made vain 
attempts to collect the National Guard and 
address them; but only a few came to the 
appointed place, and a review which he had 
intended to attend was put off by the mayor. 

Not exactly disappointed, because he had 
hoped so little, but very despondent as to the 
prospects of his country, Lafayette returned 
to camp. His popularity in Paris was evi¬ 
dently gone; but he thought more of the king 
and the Assembly than of himself. It was 
hard to have his bright hopes of liberty 
dashed just at the moment when they seemed 
to be fulfilled. He saw that the power of the 


* The Princess Elizabeth said it was time to forget the past, 
and throw themselves with confidence into the arms of the 
only man who could save the king and his family. But the 
queen said, “It would be better to perish than to be saved by 
Lafayette and the Constitutionals I” 



170 


LAFAYETTE 


[1792 


Jacobin club was just as much a tyranny as 
that of any king or emperor. And he was 
convinced, by the way in which he was treated 
as he passed through the country, that the 
greater part of the nation sympathized with 
him, and not with the Jacobins. 

At camp Lafayette was again troubled by 
obstacles thrown in his way on purpose. No 
interesting military movements occupied his 
time and thoughts. He received orders from 
Paris to change his department,—that is, the 
region he had to defend, in a case of fighting, 
—and was then abused at the clubs for doing 
so! 

In marching the necessary distance, 
Lafayette’s army passed near Compiegne, a 
royal seat, and the idea occurred to him that 
the king, attended by him, might go to the 
Assembly and announce his intention of pass¬ 
ing a few days at Compiegne; and that, once 
arrived there and surrounded by certain faith¬ 
ful soldiers whom Lafayette would answer 
for, he should send out a proclamation for¬ 
bidding the emigrants to advance into France, 
declaring himself decidedly for the constitu¬ 
tion, and ready to lead the army against Aus¬ 
trians and Prussians. Such a declaration 
would have strengthened the Constitutionals, 
would have given the king a party he could 


Age 34] 


TROUBLE 


171 


depend upon, and would have silenced the 
Jacobins, who always declared that the royal 
family urged the coming of a foreign army. 

But Louis the Sixteenth and his advisers 
could not consent to any measure so contrary 
to their old habits and inclinations. Lafay¬ 
ette was thanked and refused.* 

Fresh difficulties were created between 
the Generals Luckner and Lafayette during 
a visit of the former to Paris. It was said in 
the Assembly that Lafayette had proposed to 
him to march upon Paris. Their letters were 
read, and fully proved that the only proposals 
which had passed between them were for 
attacks on the enemy. But the matter went 
so far that Lafayette’s enemies ventured to 
propose an accusation. This, however, was 
voted down. 

The 10th of August, 1792, was memorable 
for a still more alarming attack on the 
Tuileries. Twenty thousand armed men, fol¬ 
lowed by the mob and brigands, approached 
the palace, which was too large to be de¬ 
fended except by regular soldiers, well com¬ 
manded. The king had about nine hundred 
Swiss, a few of the National Guard, and some 


* The queen is reported to have said, alluding to the 6th of 
October, 1789, “It would be too much to owe our lives to him 
twice !” 



172 


LAFAYETTE 


[1792 


brave gentlemen, who, knowing his danger, 
had come rather to die with him than to save 
him. The artillery-men refused to obey 
orders. 

Defence was so hopeless that the royal 
family were persuaded to go over to the As¬ 
sembly. This step probably saved their own 
lives, but the faithful Swiss whom they left 
behind were terribly massacred. Either the 
king forgot to give the order he intended for¬ 
bidding them to fire, or it was not delivered 
by the person to whom he gave it. It is not 
known on which side the firing began, but 
they could of course do nothing against such 
numbers. The king and queen were distressed 
when they heard the noise of arms, and a 
brave gentleman offered to carry another 
order back to the palace. He did so, and a few 
were saved. The Swiss officers and all the 
attendants of the royal family had terrible 
risks to run, and it seems almost a miracle 
that any of them could escape with their 
lives. 

Though the king and queen were not killed 
on this horrible day, they were ever after 
prisoners, and were both executed by order 
of the National Convention, which took the 
place of the Assembly. 


Age 34] 


TROUBLE 


173 


Lafayette first heard the account of this 
terrible 10th of August from one of the 
National Guard escaped from the massacre, 
and from an officer who had been at the Tui- 
leries. Finding that all was violence and ty¬ 
ranny at Paris, that the king was a prisoner, 
and the Assembly no longer really free, 
Lafayette declared that he put his army and 
himself under the orders of the magistrates 
of Ardennes, the department in which he 
then was, as they were the only authorities 
chosen by the people who were left for him 
to obey. He told the army what he had done, 
and was rejoiced to find that both officers and 
soldiers remained truly patriotic. Some of 
the neighboring departments joined Arden¬ 
nes in its resolutions, and Lafayette did not 
despair of others taking the same stand. In 
the mean time he refused obedience to the 
orders which were sent to him from Paris. 

Immediately after the 10th of August, the 
enemy, under the command of the Duke of 
Brunswick, entered France, but not in the 
neighborhood of Lafayette. He had to guard 
the frontier, but was not concerned in any 
engagement. 

The Assembly continued to pass decrees 
entirely contrary to Lafayette’s principles of 
liberty, and sent numerous commissioners to 


174 


LAFAYETTE 


[1792 


his camp to try to shake the fidelity of his 
soldiers. No towns, no magistrates showed 
themselves on his side; he found that by per¬ 
sisting in his resistance he should expose his 
troops to two dangers,—one from the enemy, 
the other from their own countrymen. On 
the 19th of August, he sorrowfully decided 
that he was no longer of use, was exposing 
himself and his friends to danger, and must 
for the present seek shelter in some neutral 
country .* 

* A country taking no part in a war. 



EXILE 

It was not easy to find a neutral country 
which he could reach, and he decided to pass 
through Holland on the way to England. If 
he could hope to return to France soon, he 
would remain in England, where he desired 
his family to join him; but if his own country 
were not free, he resolved to make his home 
in the United States. After having written 
this to his wife, he added, “I make no apology 
to you or my children for having ruined my 
family; no one among you would wish to 
owe fortune to conduct contrary to my con¬ 
science.” 

After taking every possible precaution for 
the safety of his army, Lafayette set out on 
the 19th of August, as if he were merely 
reconnoitering, with his usual escort and 
some officers who had served with him in the 
National Guard of Paris. Two of his friends, 
Messieurs Latour-Maubourg and Bureaux de 
Pusy, also accompanied him, and a third, 

175 


176 


LAFAYETTE 


[1792 


M. Alexandre Lameth, met them on the road. 
He had intended to go to Lafayette’s camp, 
but, hearing of his journey, determined to 
accompany him. When they reached Bouil¬ 
lon, on the borders of France, Lafayette sent 
back his escort, and all the officers dismissed 
their orderlies,* because they would not de¬ 
prive their country of even one defender. 

The little party of twenty-three exiles— 
for such they really were—had only reached 
Rochefort, seven leagues from Bouillon, when 
they were stopped by finding Austrian sol¬ 
diers there. They had of course kept clear 
of the enemy’s camp, but this was a sort of 
outpost which they had not been quite sure 
of. They applied to the commandant for per¬ 
mission to proceed the next day, representing 
that they no longer held rank in the French 
army, and therefore were not to be treated 
as military officers, but as private gentlemen. 

The commandant agreed very readily, but 
insisted that they should provide themselves 
with a passportf from General Moitelle, com¬ 
manding at Namur. This general, when he 
saw the letter announcing Lafayette’s arrival, 
instead of saying anything about passports, 


*A soldier of low rank, who waits upon a superior, 
t A permission from government to go from one country to 
another. In time of war it is often given by a general. 




The little party had only reached Rochefort when they were stopped. 


177 
















Age 35] 


EXILE 


179 


fell into transports of joy, and cried out, “La¬ 
fayette! Lafayette! Run instantly to tell the 
Duke of Bourbon! Lafayette! Take post to 
carry this news to his Royal Highness at 
Brussels!” Instead of passports, an order 
was despatched for forwarding the prisoners 
immediately to Namur. They hoped they 
should not be long detained, but were soon 
removed to Nivelle, where a division was 
made. Those who had not served in the 
National Guard were released; the other offi¬ 
cers were sent to Antwerp, where they had to 
spend two months; the four Deputies, to the 
National Assembly, Lafayette,* Latour-Mau- 
bourg, Bureaux de Pusy, and Lameth, were 
sent to Luxembourg, where they were sepa¬ 
rated, and after a week’s delay, escorted to 
Wezel by a Prussian guard. There they spent 
three months in prison, parted from each 
other, deprived of all news and of the means 
of writing. They were never allowed to go 
out; the double doors of the prison were 
bolted and padlocked. Such a mode of life 
was enough to ruin any one’s health. Lafay- 

* While they were at Nivelle, an order came to take away 
from Lafayette the treasure which he was supposed to have 
brought from camp! He observed, coldly, that “doubtless the 
princes would agree that in his place they would have done 
that.” 



180 


LAFAYETTE 


[1792 


ette became very ill, and when Maubourg 
asked permission to see him, when he should 
be near death, he was told, “That could not 
be.” Lafayette recovered, and the king of 
Prussia had the baseness to invite him, in 
order to improve his condition, to give some 
advice or information against France. “The 
king of Prussia is exceedingly impertinent,” 
said Lafayette, when this paper was read to 
him. 

Spending days in this utter solitude and 
idleness, how varied and how anxious Lafay¬ 
ette’s thoughts must have been! Recollec¬ 
tions of home, of the United States and the 
free happy life he led there, must have blended 
with the ideas of 1789, his bright hopes from 
the doings of the National Assembly,—then 
the scenes in Paris and at Versailles, the 
women in insurrection, the queen’s courage, 
the visits at the Tuileries, the difficulty of 
convincing the king, the devotion of the 
National Guard, the outbreaks he had sup¬ 
pressed, the gratitude of the citizens, the 
obstinacy of the courtiers,—all the events of 
his life for the last four years must have 
made pictures in his mind, as he walked to 
and fro in his solitary cell. And many a sound 
must have re-echoed on his ear, from the 
shouts of the mob to the speeches of Depu- 


Age 35] 


EXILE 


181 


ties, or the queen’s firm, clear tones. But the 
overpowering feeling was anxiety: first, for 
the fate of his family and friends,—how far 
his unpopularity might have affected them; 
next for the king, a prisoner as he knew; and 
then for his unhappy country, with enemies 
coming upon her from without, and the 
Jacobins ruling within. The acts of those 
few days after the 10th of August had shown 
him that a terrible time was coming; but how 
terrible neither he nor any one else could 
imagine. 

From Wezel they were removed to Magde¬ 
burg, on the Elbe, from whence Lafayette 
managed to write again. He dared not send 
letters to his wife in France, because his 
handwriting might be recognized, and then 
the letter would surely be stopped; but he 
addressed them to a friend in London, hoping 
that his family might have made their escape 
to England. He gives the following account 
of his situation: “Imagine an opening made 
under the rampart* of the citadelf and 
surrounded with a strong high palisade 
through this, after opening four doors, each 
armed with chains, bars, and padlocks, they 
come, not without some difficulty and noise, 

* A strong outer wall. f The centre of a fortress. 

$ A fence made of posts set into the ground. 



182 


LAFAYETTE 


[1793 


to my cell, three paces wide, five and a half 
long. The wall is mouldy on the side towards 
the ditch, and the front one admits light, but 
not sunshine, through a little grated window. 
Add to this two sentinels,—whose eyes pene¬ 
trate into this lower region, but who are kept 
outside the palisade, lest they should speak, 
other watchers not belonging to the guard, 
and all the walls, ramparts, ditches, guards, 
within and without the citadel of Magdeburg, 
and you will think that the foreign powers 
neglect nothing to keep us within their 
dominions. The noisy opening of the four 
doors is repeated every morning to admit my 
servant; at dinner, that I may eat in presence 
of the commandant of the citadel and of the 
guard; and at night, to take my servant to 
his prison. After having shut upon me all 
the doors, the commandant carries off the 
keys to the room where, since our arrival, the 
king has ordered him to sleep. 

“I have books, the white leaves of which 
are taken out, but no news, no newspapers, 
no communications,—neither pen, ink, paper, 
nor pencil. It is a wonder that I possess this 
sheet, and I am writing with a toothpick. My 
health fails daily. . . . The account I have 
given you may serve for my companions, 
whose treatment is the same.” 


Age 35] 


EXILE 


183 


In spite of every precaution of govern¬ 
ment, news came to the prisoners through the 
jailers or the soldiers. They heard of the suc¬ 
cess of the French army against the enemy, 
of the execution of the king, and of the 
shocking murders under the name of law of 
many of their friends and innocent persons. 
From their own families they could hear 
nothing. Their anxiety must have been cruel, 
but Lafayette never seems to have lost hope. 
He took excellent care of his health, and 
there is no complaint in any one of his letters. 
He had two comforts in his captivity; one 
was, the devotion of his young secretary, 
Felix, and the other, some money sent for 
him to Magdebourg by his American friends, 
that he might be able to buy anything which 
the officers would permit him to have. 

In the spring of 1793, the prisoners were 
allowed to walk for an hour every day in a 
little garden in one corner of a fortification. 
Each one was taken out separately, and an 
officer was with him all the time. 

Lafayette also had the great happiness of 
receiving some letters from his family and 
friends; he was not permitted to keep them, 
but read them once. His answers were 
always read by the officer in command, and 
he was obliged to write with the utmost pra- 


184 


LAFAYETTE 


[1793 


dence, or else compelled to rewrite two or 
three times, if he said anything displeasing 
to Prussian notions. 

In October he writes thus to his wife: 
“You know that for an hour every day I am 
taken out of my hole to get a mouthful of 
fresh air; I have books, and, though the un¬ 
lucky power of reading fast has become a 
trouble to me, I have found in English, 
French, and Latin, the means of conversing 
with the dead, since I am shut off from the 
living. I can now even see the Leyden 
Gazette.” 

His friends were not idle during these 
long months of imprisonment. His former 
aides, now in London, and other friends were 
making efforts to induce the king of Prussia 
to set him free, and forming plans for his 
escape; but both were matters of great diffi¬ 
culty, and not to be thoughtlessly under¬ 
taken. 

In January, 1794, he was much troubled 
by a new separation from his friends. He was 
sent to Neisse, on the borders of Silesia, and 
Maubourg to Glatz, not very far distant, 
while Lameth and Pusy remained at Magde- 
bourg. It added greatly to his anxiety to 
be sent a hundred and fifty leagues farther 
from France; but immediately on arriving 


Age 36] 


EXILE 


185 


he obtained leave to write to his friends, and 
assured them that they need feel no addi¬ 
tional anxiety on account of the change, as 
his treatment was almost exactly the same. 

In March he wrote to his friend Mau- 
bourg, at Glatz: “So your sister* is estab¬ 
lished in the vaults of Glatz. I have not been 
favored in my dungeons with any apparition, 
but I imagine that consoling angels must 
have faces like hers.” Maubourg and Pusy 
rejoined him at Neisse, and for a little while 
they were allowed to see each other and 
Madame de Maison-Neuve. 

In May all three were transferred to 
Olmutz, in Austria, where they were again 
separated. Each one was told, on entering 
his cell, that “he would for the future see 
only his four walls, that he would never hear 
any news from any person, that even the 
jailers were forbidden to pronounce his name, 
and in despatches sent to court he would be 
mentioned only by his number; that he would 
never know anything about the existence of 
his family or of his two companions, and that, 
as such a condition led them to think of kill¬ 
ing themselves, knives, forks, and other 
articles, were forbidden. They were also de- 


* Madame de Maison-Neuve. 



186 


LAFAYETTE 


[1794 


prived of some things the Prussians had left 
them, viz. their watches, their knee and stock 
buckles, and some books in which the word 
liberty was found. 

Lafayette again became ill, and the phy¬ 
sician represented that air was necessary for 
him. Three times the answer was sent, that 
“he was not yet ill enough,” before he was 
allowed to walk. 

This permission encouraged two friends 
of his to attempt to rescue him. 

These friends were Dr. Bollman, a physi¬ 
cian of Hanover, who entered into the scheme 
from pure enthusiasm for Lafayette’s char¬ 
acter, and had never seen him until he came 
to Olmutz to arrange plans. The other was a 
young American, Mr. Huger of South Caro¬ 
lina, son of the officer at whose house “the 
Marquis” landed in 1778. 

On the 8th of November, Lafayette drove 
out in company with the jailer. He got rid of 
the soldiers of his escort by giving them a 
commission and some money, so that they 
went to drink at a neighboring wine-shop. 
Then he left the carriage, and while walking 
with the jailer asked him to let him examine 
his sabre, and attempted to seize it. While 
they were struggling together, Bollman and 
Huger, who had watched for this moment, 


Age 37] 


EXILE 


187 


came running up, and showed a pistol. The 
jailer let go his hold, but immediately ran off 
for help. Lafayette’s deliverers mounted him 
on one of the two horses they had brought, 
but he would not ride away until he saw that 
they had the other. Dr. Bollman had said to 
him, “Get to Hoff!” but Lafayette, not know¬ 
ing that there was such a town, understood 
him to say merely “Get off!” He missed his 
way, and, being uneasy as to the fate of his 
friends, turned back, but as he saw pursuers 
in the distance, again resumed his road. 

In the struggle with the jailer he had got 
a severe strain, and had the flesh torn off his 
finger, laying it open to the bone; he was 
covered with mud and blood, his dress was 
out of order,—altogether, he was a strange 
figure to be met with as a traveler. Dr. Boll- 
man had provided fresh horses on the road 
which he himself took; but he was able to 
reach it only in consequence of the generous 
devotion of Mr. Huger, who gave himself up 
to the first party of pursuers, hoping thereby 
to gain time for the others. All was in vain; 
Lafayette was arrested at Sternberg, about 
eight leagues from Olmutz, and Dr. Bollman 
in Prussia, after he had crossed the Austrian 
frontier. Both Bollman and Huger were im¬ 
prisoned, and kept chained in their cells for 


188 


LAFAYETTE 


[1794 


six months; and, in addition to all his other 
troubles, Lafayette had the pain of dreading 
what those generous friends might suffer for 
his sake. The general informed him that they 
would be hung before his window. 

He became very ill again, but was left for 
nights fourteen hours long without any help 
at all, and at first without a light,—after¬ 
wards he was allowed to burn one until nine 
o’clock; he had but two shirts, and could not 
procure another for a change; and the sur¬ 
geon who dressed his finger was hurried all 
the time by an officer, and hardly dared to 
talk to him. 

At this time, Felix, the secretary, in¬ 
vented a very ingenious mode of communica¬ 
tion, by means of musical airs which he and 
the servant of M. Maubourg whistled to each 
other. They learned to tell each other and 
all the prisoners news by different sounds, 
and Lafayette’s heart was rejoiced by at last 
hearing that his wife and children were alive. 
This he would not have known, but that his 
wife was mentioned under another name in a 
letter to M. Maubourg. Whenever her name 
was seen, the letter was kept back, for the 
Austrian government seemed to have taken 
the greatest pains to torture Lafayette on 
this point. 


THE FAMILY AT OLMUTZ 

For this very reason, Lafayette must have 
felt the most intense delight when in October, 
1795, he saw his wife and his two daughters 
enter his cell. Madame de Lafayette’s devo¬ 
tion had overcome all the obstacles which 
parted them, and in each other’s company 
they felt strong to bear any trials that might 
lie before them. 

Having procured a passport as an Ameri¬ 
can lady, she had left France for Hamburg, 
and gone thence to Vienna. There Prince 
Rosemburg, who had known her family, pro¬ 
cured for her an interview with the Emperor 
of Austria. All she asked of him was per¬ 
mission to share her husband’s imprisonment, 
which he very politely granted. He told her 
that Lafayette was very well treated, and 
that his family’s presence would be one com¬ 
fort the more. 

She was therefore much shocked at the 
strictness of his confinement, and at his 
extreme thinness and paleness. She shared 
fully in all his privations, and was not treated 
with any difference even the first day of her 

189 


190 


LAFAYETTE 


[1795 


arrival. The purses were immediately asked 
for, and three silver forks found among the 
luggage were eagerly seized. Not being satis¬ 
fied with this system, Madame Lafayette 
asked to see the commandant. That was 
impossible, but she might write to him. 
Receiving no answer, she wished to write to 
the Emperor, who had given her leave to do 
so; that also was objected to, and she was 
told that her requests addressed to the com¬ 
mandant had been forwarded to Vienna. She 
had asked to be allowed to go to mass on 
Sundays with her daughters, to have a sol¬ 
dier’s wife take care of their room, and to be 
waited on at table by Lafayette’s servants. 
No answer ever came. A second appeal to 
the Minister of War, joined with a request to 
see Maubourg and Pusy, was refused by him. 

In February her own health was so much 
affected by all she had endured, that she 
applied to the Emperor himself for permis¬ 
sion to spend a few days at Vienna, in order 
to consult a physician. After a delay of 
almost two months, she was informed that 
if she left the prison at all, she could never 
come back. She instantly decided to remain 
at all risks. 

This was the manner of living. The fam¬ 
ily took their daily meals together. After 



Lafayette must have felt the most intense delight when he saw his 

wife enter his cell. 


191 





















Age 38] 


AT OLMUTZ 


193 


breakfast, the mother and daughters were 
locked up in their cell until noon; but 
between dinner and supper they remained in 
Lafayette’s. At eight o’clock they were sepa¬ 
rated for the night. 

The physician who visited them knew not 
one word of French. Lafayette translated 
for the ladies into Latin, in presence of an 
officer who understood it. 

This life, and more hardships probably 
than have ever been made known, these ladies 
endured cheerfully, seeing that Lafayette 
was in better health and spirits since they 
were with him. The daughters employed 
themselves with studies, work, and drawing, 
everything which their situation allowed, to 
vary the days, and fortunately they had good 
health. But it is a great strain on the spirits 
of even the youngest and gayest people to 
lead such a life month after month. 

Madame Lafayette had many a melan¬ 
choly story to tell of the events that had 
taken place in France. Immediately after her 
husband’s departure she had been impris¬ 
oned, but was soon released and allowed to 
live at Chavaniac, on her parole,—that is, her 
word of honor not to leave the place. In a 
year, however, October, 1793, she was again 
imprisoned, and taken to Paris the next June. 


194 


LAFAYETTE 


[1796 


She was detained there during what was 
called the Reign of Terror, when her grand¬ 
mother, mother, and sister were all beheaded. 
Nothing can be imagined more horrible than 
the manner in which innocent people were 
carried before a judge, who was no real 
judge; a few questions were asked, the 
answers hardly listened to, and the victims 
were hurried off to be killed. Any excuse 
was enough for arresting them. They might 
have been of high rank, or the friends of 
aristocrats,—they might have money, or 
merely be supposed to have it. Nothing 
would save them; neither rank, beauty, tal¬ 
ents, innocence, goodness, age, or sex was 
any protection. “Blood!” was the cry of the 
men who had power in Paris. 

Lafayette found that he had lost many 
dear friends and more acquaintances during 
this time. It was also a bitter grief to him 
to see that the Revolution had come to such 
an end. The hopes and the labors of so many 
patriots seemed to be blotted out. 

During these melancholy months Lafay¬ 
ette’s friends were not idle. In England 
speeches were made in the House of Com¬ 
mons,* asking the Ministers to interfere; 

* Somewhat like our House of Representatives, at Washing¬ 
ton. 



Age 39] 


AT OLMUTZ 


195 


President Washington wrote a letter to the 
Emperor of Austria, in behalf of his friend; 
and the success of the French army encour¬ 
aged his relations in France to hope that the 
generals might at last be in a position to 
demand the release of their countrymen. 

This took place at last. The French gov¬ 
ernment—a Directory, as it was called, of five 
persons—desired Generals Bonaparte and 
Clark to insist on their being set free. It took 
five months of exchanging letters, &c., to 
induce the Austrian government to give 
them up. 

Before they left Olmutz, and while this 
arrangement was going on, a nobleman was 
sent to visit Lafayette and his friends, and to 
require from them a promise that they 
would never again enter Austria. 

They drew up a paper in answer, in which 
they denied the Emperor’s right to ask such 
a promise. They certainly had no wish ever 
again to set foot on Austrian ground; but 
they would not engage to stay away if the 
service of France should require them to 
come within its limits. Nor would Lafayette 
bind himself by a promise to go to America, 
although he had formed such a plan many 
and many a time during his imprisonment. 


196 


LAFAYETTE 


[1798 


He had said in one of his letters, “The Huron 
and Iroquois forests are peopled with my 
friends; the despots of Europe and their 
courts are the savages for me.” 

On the 19th of September, 1797, the pris¬ 
oners of Olmutz were set free. Probably we 
cannot imagine the delight with which they 
saw again the sky, the earth, the very road 
they travelled which took them out of Aus¬ 
tria. In the first safe place, the families of 
Messieurs Maubourg and Pusy met them. 
The journey was a slow one on account of 
Madame Lafayette’s health, which was much 
injured by living in two prisons. They were 
ordered to go to Hamburg, and although out 
of Austria, the prisoners did not yet feel free 
to return home. They did not agree in poli¬ 
tics with those who governed France, and 
chose Denmark as a safe place, and one near 
their own country. 

Lafayette found and felt that he had come 
back to a changed world. The King, Queen, 
Court, Assembly, and Constitution, were all 
gone! The places of the wise and good who 
had been killed in the Reign of Terror seemed 
empty still to him. A new constitution had 
been made, which satisfied him in some 
respects better than that of 1791. But the 


Age 40] 


AT OLMUTZ 


197 


government was in the hands of five direc¬ 
tors with whom he had no sympathy, and he 
found that even his manner of returning 
thanks for his release gave offense. He wrote 
to a friend who had cautioned him as to the 
free expression of his opinions, after speak¬ 
ing of being unfit to join any party: “Thus I 
risk nothing in speaking as I think, because 
I would not and could not be employed, 
except according to my own ideas. The 
result is, that except on some very great occa¬ 
sion of serving the liberty of my country 
after my own fashion, my political life is 
ended. To my friends I shall be full of life, 
and to the public a sort of picture in a 
museum or book in a library.” And in a later 
letter he says: “Those who know my views 
and wishes must be convinced that the serv¬ 
ices I should wish to render to my country 
are of a nature to be combined with the mode 
of living which suits my position, my wife, 
all my family, and myself; that is to say, with 
a quiet philosopher’s establishment on a good 
farm,—far enough from the capital not to be 
interfered with in my solitude, and to see 
only intimate friends.” 

Lafayette established himself at a coun¬ 
try-house near the little town of Ploen, in 
Holstein. Here he lived quietly with the 


198 


LAFAYETTE 


[1799 


family of his friend M. Maubourg, whose 
brother, M. Charles Latour Maubourg, soon 
after married the eldest Mademoiselle Lafay¬ 
ette. He received and wrote many letters, 
and occupied himself with plans of a book on 
the French Revolution, to be written by him¬ 
self and his friends. Gardening was also an 
amusement, and he studied books on farm¬ 
ing with as much zeal as he had given in his 
youth to those on the art of war. Absence 
from his own country and Madame Lafay¬ 
ette’s ill-health were the chief drawbacks to 
his happiness. 

But he could hardly believe that he was 
destined to be a mere looker-on while the 
French army was winning the most brilliant 
victories everywhere; and he was proud of its 
glory, for there could not be a more devoted 
Frenchman than Lafayette. His heart was 
open to all who were striving to be free in 
every country, but France was always dear. 
He sometimes thought of going to the United 
States, but could not resolve to make his 
home so far from his native land. And his 
position in America would not have been a 
comfortable one, for some difficulties had 
arisen between the United States and the 
French government, and in case of war 
Lafayette could not have joined either side. 


Age 42] 


AT OLMUTZ 


199 


Early in the year 1799, he removed from 
Holstein to Vianen, near Utrecht. War was 
raging in almost every country in Europe, 
and he preferred living in Holland, which 
brought him a little nearer France. During 
his wife’s absence,* he wrote thus to her: 
“Yesterday and to-day, Georgef and I have 
been arranging a farm for you, either in the 
beautiful valley of the Shenandoah, in the 
State of Virginia, not far from Federal City 
and even Mount Vernon; or in the lovely 
fields of New England, within reach of the 
town of Boston, for which you know my 
fancy. I do not conceal from myself, dear 
Adrienne, the fact that I, who complain of 
the serfs of Holstein as a sad surrounding for 
a friend of liberty, should find negro slaves in 
the valley of the Shenandoah; for, if in the 
Northern States there is equality for all, in 
the Southern it exists only for the whites. It 
is true that, with our ideas of Cayenne,t we 

* She had gone to Paris, hoping to save someof the property 
of her family, taken from them during the Reign of Terror, 
f George Washington Lafayette, his only son, now nearly 
twenty years old. He had spent two years in the United 
States, chiefly under General Washington’s care, while the 
rest of the family were at Olmutz. 

$ Lafayette’s plantation, on which he had hoped to educate 
slaves was at Cayenne. In spite of his wife’s efforts, they 
were sold, by order of his enemies, in August, 1792. All slaves 
in French colonies were, however, set free in 1794. 




200 


LAFAYETTE 


[1799 


might console ourselves somewhat. I should, 
however, prefer New England, and at the 
same time I feel all the reasons which ought 
to draw us near Mount Vernon and the seat 
of government. But we only want the first 
dollar to buy our farm with.” 

Young Lafayette joined the French army 
in Holland this year. It was a singular state 
of things for the father to be unable to enter 
his native country while the son was fighting 
her battles! Lafayette, however, had agreed 
to his taking part in this campaign the more 
readily because he hoped and believed that a 
change in the French government was at 
hand. He sent letters and messages to Paris, 
but there seemed to be no opening for him. 

Another star was rising over the French 
nation, which dazzled their eyes with its bril¬ 
liancy; fame and glory in war were now de¬ 
sired, and the men and services of 1789 were 
forgotten. Napoleon Bonaparte, by his 
extraordinary military talents, had put him¬ 
self in a position to govern France. In 
December, 1799, he caused a new constitu¬ 
tion to be proclaimed, by which he secured 
great power. His title was simply First Con¬ 
sul, but he might have been called King. 


Age 42] 


AT OLMUTZ 


201 


Lafayette hastened to Paris, on hearing of 
this change. His friends were somewhat 
alarmed to see him there, and thought the 
First Consul was not at all pleased at his 
speedy arrival. He received a message from 
Bonaparte, through Madame Lafayette, rec¬ 
ommending a very quiet life, which he had 
always intended to lead. 

The family were soon established at 
Lagrange, an estate inherited by Madame 
Lafayette, about fourteen leagues from Paris. 
It was their home for the rest of Lafayette’s 
life, and a very happy one. His children 
remained there after their marriages,* and 
during his son’s frequent absence with the 
army he had the pleasure of keeping with him 
his daughter-in-law and grandchildren. He 
particularly enjoyed seeing his friends about 
him after his long separation from them, and 
though his manner of living was simple, both 
Frenchmen and foreigners found a most cor¬ 
dial welcome at Lagrange. 

The estate was large enough for him to 
employ himself with experiments in farming, 
and to put in practice what he had learned 
and observed in Holstein and Holland. 

*M. George Lafayette married a Mile, de Tracy, daughter 
of an old friend of Lafayette, both politically and in private. 
The youngest Mile. Lafayette married M. Louis Lasteyrie. 



FRANCE MUCH CHANGED 

Shortly after his return to France, Lafay¬ 
ette received the painful news of General 
Washington’s death. It was an unexpected 
grief and a disappointment, for through all 
his trials Lafayette had cherished the hope 
of future visits to the United States and 
Mount Vernon. 

He wrote immediately to the family, and 
their answers were accompanied by a pair of 
pistols, which the General had left him in 
his will. 

Washington’s influence seems almost to 
have formed Lafayette’s political character. 
Without knowing him, the young Marquis 
had the greatest enthusiasm for liberty, and 
wished to help all who would be free; but he 
learned from the Father of our Country that 
steady respect for law, and desire to 
strengthen the foundations of government, 
202 


Age 43] 


FRANCE MUCH CHANGED 


203 


which distinguished Lafayette from both 
friends and enemies during the stormy scenes 
of the French Revolution. He could not con¬ 
vince his countrymen of the wisdom of his 
views; the Constitution of 1791, which he 
liked, was destroyed in less than a year by 
the Jacobins;—but we need not judge him 
very hardly for having thought the French 
more fit for liberty than they really were. 
And considering how many enemies he had, 
it is only wonderful that he kept his popu¬ 
larity as long as he did. Perhaps, if there 
had been no court to thwart him in every¬ 
thing, the nation might have been controlled 
under his constitution. 

In the summer of 1800, Lafayette and 
Maubourg were presented to the First Con¬ 
sul, at the Tuileries.* He received them with 
great politeness, and they added to their 
expressions of gratitude many compliments 
on the Italian campaign, from which he had 
just returned. 

He seemed to like talking with Lafayette, 
asked some questions about America, and 
often discussed with him the state of Europe. 
One day he said to him that he “must have 
found the French much cooled on the subject 


* Where he had so often seen Louis XVI. and Marie Antoin¬ 
ette. 



204 


LAFAYETTE 


[1800 


of liberty.” “Yes,” replied Lafayette, “but 
they are in a state to receive it.” “They are 
disgusted,” answered the First Consul; “your 
Parisians, for instance, the shopkeepers,—O, 
they want no more of it!” Lafayette repeated 
his former words, and added, “I did not use 
the expression lightly, General; I am not 
ignorant of the effect of the follies and crimes 
which have defiled the name of liberty; but 
the French are perhaps more than ever in a 
state to receive it. It is for you to give it; 
from you they await it.” 

Several proposals were made to Lafayette, 
about this time, to be a Senator, or to hold 
some office, but he declined. Bonaparte, not¬ 
withstanding, had the kindness to procure 
leave for some of Lafayette’s friends to return 
to France and regain their property.* But 
all friendly intercourse between them came 
to an end in 1802, when a decree was passed 
declaring Napoleon First Consul for life. 

Lafayette would have been very ready to 
vote for this appointment, if the liberty of the 
people had been first secured; but he was not 
willing to have such an office bestowed on 
any man, unless the government were a 


* Emigrants were forbidden to come back, and deprived of 
their property. 



Age 45] FRANCE MUCH CHANGED 205 

remarkably free one.* He felt so grateful to 
Bonaparte that he was very unwilling to 
offend him, but he could not desert the prin¬ 
ciples which had always governed his actions. 
He wrote to the First Consul, explaining his 
motives, but no answer was ever returned. 

His son felt the full force of Bonaparte’s 
displeasure, for his promotion in the army 
was stopped, although two or three gallant 
acts ought to have been rewarded. 

A fall on the ice, about the end of the year 
1802, deprived Lafayette for a long time of 
his usual out-of-door pleasures. He broke 
the thigh-bone, and, in order to avoid lame¬ 
ness, went through a terrible process of hav¬ 
ing his legstretched in a frame. It was kept 
on for forty days and nights, and caused the 
greatest suffering, which he bore so bravely 
that the surgeons never suspected the mis¬ 
chief it was doing. When it was taken off, 
they were shocked to see the effects of such 
pressure on the muscles and blood-vessels 
about the thigh. The tendons of the foot 
were also injured, and many months passed 
before the wounds inflicted by the machine 

* One of his German friends, Klopstock, the poet, said, soon 
after he came from Olmutz: “General Lafayette’s character 
prevents him from understanding his countrymen. How can 
he think them capable of having free institutions ?” 



206 


LAFAYETTE 


[1803 


were cured; but Lafayette was always glad 
that he had tried that system, because lame¬ 
ness would have interfered so much with his 
exercise. 

The accident happened in Paris, and dur¬ 
ing the weeks that he was shut up by it he 
had the pleasure of receiving many kind vis¬ 
its and messages of inquiry from both old 
friends and new, generals and senators. Peo¬ 
ple showed the differences in their political 
opinions by the manner in which they came 
themselves to the house, or sent their serv¬ 
ants, or inquired from others. The Ameri¬ 
cans in Paris did not fail in their attentions. 

In 1803 an arrangement was made 
between France and the United States by 
which Louisiana was bought by the republic. 
President Jefferson, with whom Lafayette 
kept up a regular correspondence, proposed 
to him to become the governor of the new 
territory, and suggested that he would be 
both useful and happy in reconciling the 
French settlers to the American government. 
The land allotted to him, as a former major- 
general in the American army, was selected 
from the rich fields of Louisiana. 

But the project does not seem to have 
tempted Lafayette. Much as he loved Amer¬ 
ica, his native country was dearer still, and 


Age 46] 


LAFAYETTE 


207 


he could not give up the hope that he might 
yet serve the cause of liberty in France: if not 
in action, at least by his character and 
example. 

Bonaparte’s power seemed a perfect bar¬ 
rier to Lafayette’s wishes. The army was 
devoted to him, and France parted cheer¬ 
fully with immense sums of money, and with 
the young men the hope of the nation, who 
fell by thousands on his battle-fields. The 
victories were wonderful, and even Lafayette 
watched with enthusiasm the progress of the 
armies, though he entirely disapproved of the 
spirit of the government. 

In 1804 the First Consul was crowned 
Emperor, and all the kings in Europe courted 
his favor. But there was still one old repub¬ 
lican whom all his power could not move 
from the fixed opinions of thirty years. The 
Emperor said, one day, to his Council: “Gen¬ 
tlemen, I know your devotion to the power of 
the throne. Every one in France is cor¬ 
rected; I was thinking of the only man who 
is not,—Lafayette. He has never retreated 
from his line. You see him quiet, but I tell 
you he is quite ready to begin again.” 

The close of the year 1807 was marked by 
the greatest of sorrows for Lafayette, the 
death of his wife. He wrote thus of her to 


208 


LAFAYETTE 


[1808 


his friend Maubourg: “During the thirty-four 
years of an union in which her tenderness, 
her kindness, the delicacy and generosity of 
her soul charmed, adorned, and honored my 
life, I was so accustomed to all she was to me 
that I did not distinguish it from my own 
existence. . . .You know as well as I 

all she was, all she did during the Revolu¬ 
tion. It is not for coming to Olmutz, as 
Charles Fox said, ‘on the wings of love and 
duty,’ that I praise her here; but for having 
waited to secure, as far as it lay with her, the 
well-being of my aunt and the rights of our 
creditors,—for having had the courage to 
send George to America. What a generous 
imprudence it was to be almost the only 
woman in France compromised by her name 
who would not change it!* Every one of her 
petitions began with these words, ‘the wife 
of Lafayette.’ . . . But we have all seen 

this woman, so lofty and brave in great cir¬ 
cumstances, as gentle, simple, and easy, in 
the common intercourse of life.” 

His grief for his wife’s death was mod¬ 
erated by the recollection of her sufferings 
from ill-health, and by the love and sympa- 


* Most of the wives of emigrants went through a form of 
divorce from their husbands, in order to save a portion of 
their property. 



Age 57] FRANCE MUCH CHANGED 209 

thy of his children. Her room at Lagrange 
was always kept sacred, and Lafayette, every 
morning of his life, spent a few minutes in 
looking at her miniature. There was no part 
of his life, private or public, in which she had 
not sympathized with him. But in the bit¬ 
terest days of political strife she had never 
been heard to utter a harsh word, although 
she had missed no opportunity of defending 
her husband. 

She was a truly religious person, and her 
reverence, joined with great sweetness and 
kindness, seemed to set her apart from 
earthly passions. She was almost wor¬ 
shipped at Lagrange, and left a bright 
example, which her daughters and her son’s 
wife endeavored to follow in her home. 

Bonaparte’s career after his coronation 
was still wonderfully successful. The first 
disappointment was his invasion of Russia, 
in 1812. The Russians defended their coun¬ 
try obstinately, and the French army suf¬ 
fered terribly during its retreat from cold, as 
well as the usual distresses of an unsuccessful 
army in an enemy’s country. Prussia joined 
Russia and England against him, and the 
battles were doubtful, instead of being cer¬ 
tain victories for the French. Twice they 
tried to settle matters by agreement, but 


210 


LAFAYETTE 


[1814 


Napoleon’s pride and confidence were not yet 
shaken. Austria joined the Allies, they 
entered France, and, in spite of some suc¬ 
cesses on Napoleon’s side, the city of Paris 
was surrendered to them in March, 1814. 

The Emperor had worn out both power 
and popularity. He had governed kings, and 
had flattered French ambition and love of 
glory; but the desire to rule over every one 
had become a passion with him, and he had 
indulged it until French blood had watered 
the plains of Europe, and the nation had 
nothing more to give. He was now reduced 
to ruling over the little island of Elba, which 
was given to him by the Allies. 

On the 20th of April, 1814, Bonaparte left 
Fontainebleau.* The allied sovereigns, the 
Emperors of Russia and Austria, and the 
King of Prussia, decided to recall to France 
and place upon the throne the brother of 
Louis the Sixteenth, under the name of Louis 
the Eighteenth. The poor little Dauphin, 
who had died in prison, was counted as Louis 
the Seventeenth. 


* A country palace, near Paris. 



A NEW KING OF FRANCE 

In spite of all the opposition he had met 
with from this family, the feelings of his 
youth revived again in Lafayette’s heart, and 
he was glad to see the king and his brother, 
the Count d’Artois, once more. The recol¬ 
lection of Louis the Sixteenth’s sorrows and 
death no doubt touched him; but the feeling 
of loyalty to the royal family is stronger in 
people who live under a king than we Ameri¬ 
cans can imagine. 

He, however, did nothing but pay his 
respects once at the palace. The court was 
composed of people with whom it was impos¬ 
sible for him to have any connection. The 
princes soon proved that during their long 
absence they had “learned nothing and for¬ 
gotten nothing.” Their whole desire was to 
restore France to its ancient condition. They 
were, however, obliged to agree to a charter 


2X1 


212 


LAFAYETTE 


[1815 


which secured certain conditions to the com¬ 
mon people. They gave up, much to the 
regret of the nation, a great many forts, guns, 
and other things gained in Napoleon’s cam¬ 
paigns, and they seemed in many ways to 
have more feeling for the crowned heads who 
had assisted them than for the French people. 
They did nothing, either, for military glory; 
and the French, who had enjoyed the idea 
that their Emperor set kings upon half the 
thrones of Europe, and had welcomed back 
the victor of many a campaign, found it dull 
to see, on public days, a gouty old gentleman, 
who sat in an arm-chair at parade, and had 
nothing to say to them but, “I am pleased, 
very well pleased.” 

Notwithstanding all these objections, 
however, Lafayette preferred this form of 
government to the Empire, and was sorry to 
hear of Bonaparte’s escape from Elba and 
landing at Cannes, in the south of France, 
on the 1st of March, 1815. 

He had been for a little time in Paris, and 
found that the king was now only ready to 
make some efforts to please the people. 
Lafayette’s friends hoped to gain something 
for the cause of liberty by taking the royal 
side; but he had seen too much of the 


Age 57] 


A NEW KING 


213 


obstinacy and slowness of that party, to have 
any hope of working with it.* 

The National Guard of Paris was ready 
to protect the Tuileries, and a great many 
people who had deserted Napoleon the year 
before now dreaded his return, and were 
quite ready to fight for the king. 

Still all was confusion and disagreement 
at Paris, while Bonaparte, joined everywhere 
by his old soldiers, and welcomed by the 
country people, advanced to the capital with¬ 
out firing a shot. 

On the 20th of March the king and royal 
family left Paris and went to Ghent, trav¬ 
elling quietly by post through a country suffi¬ 
ciently friendly to him, had he only been 
willing to accept a new order of things. 

This was what Napoleon was trying hard 
to do. In every proclamation he spoke of 
“the people,” of “owing all to the people,” 
and used as often as possible republican 
words, although his real feelings of des¬ 
potism would occasionally peep out. 

Under his government, of course, Lafay¬ 
ette could not hold any public station. After 

* One of the king’s ministers said, “All is lost! There is no 
extremity, no endurance, to which the king would not sub¬ 
mit.” “What!” said some one, “even Lafayette?” “Yes,” cried 
he, “Lafayette himself!” 



214 


LAFAYETTE 


[1815 


spending three days more in Paris, in order 
not to appear alarmed, he returned to 
Lagrange and his happy home-life. 

It was to be interrupted sooner than he 
supposed. The Allies immediately rose 
against Napoleon, who found he must in 
some way gratify the people, who were bal¬ 
ancing the advantages of having him on the 
throne and another war to carry on against 
the Allies, or of having Louis the Eighteenth, 
with all his defects, ruling over them once 
more. 

His brother Joseph sent for Lafayette, 
who could only suggest his invariable remedy 
for all national difficulties, a National Assem¬ 
bly. To this the emperor gave a most unwill¬ 
ing consent, and Lafayette was elected a 
deputy. 

The chamber of Representatives was 
opened by Bonaparte with great pomp, but, 
though his words were satisfactory, his face 
had a constrained look, as if he were acting 
a part that was odious to his nature. He 
could not speak to National Deputies so cor¬ 
dially as poor Louis the Sixteenth had done 
in 1789. 

During the reception of the emperor he 
spoke to Lafayette in private, and began by 
saying, “It is twelve years since I had the 


Age 57] 


A NEW KING 


215 


pleasure of seeing you.” “Yes, sire,” replied 
Lafayette, rather dryly, “it is, fully that 
time.”* Later in the day, the emperor 
remarked, “I find you grown young; country 
air has done you good.” “It has done me 
much good,” answered Lafayette, who could 
not return the compliment. 

On the whole, he was pretty well satisfied 
with the Assembly, finding more indepen¬ 
dence than he had expected among the 
members. 

War being declared, the emperor left 
Paris on the 12th of June, 1815, and the bat¬ 
tle of Waterloo was fought on the 18th. It 
was a total defeat for the French. Napoleon 
came back to Paris ready to dissolve the 
Assembly and seize all authority for himself. 

Lafayette insisted that the Assembly 
should declare that it would not be broken 
up, and would try to protect the city. This 
was agreed to, and the Emperor’s abdica¬ 
tion! was proposed. After a great struggle 
to keep his power, he consented to resign the 
throne in favor of his son. The Assembly 
accepted his abdication, but said nothing of 
his successor. 


* Thirteen years, in fact,—since 1802, when Bonaparte was 
appointed Consul for life, 
f Giving up the throne. 



216 


LAFAYETTE 


[1815 


Some of his friends were desirous that 
he should go to America, and Lafayette tried 
to secure a safe passage for him. 

The Assembly now appointed a sort of 
committee to govern France from day to day. 
It was expected that Lafayette would be a 
member; but he was sent instead to meet the 
victorious generals, and, if possible, prevent 
them from coming to Paris. They had de¬ 
clared that they waged war against Bona¬ 
parte alone, and not in favor of the royal 
family. 

It was, however, impossible to induce 
them to agree to any terms of peace until 
they were near Paris, and they insisted on 
having Napoleon in their safe keeping. When 
Lord Stewart first said to Lafayette, “I must 
inform you, sir, that there can be no peace 
with the allied powers, unless you deliver up 
Bonaparte to us”; he replied, “I am surprised 
that, to propose so base an act to the French 
nation, you address yourself by choice to a 
prisoner of Olmutz.” 

There was nothing to be done but to 
return to Paris, and Lafayette was sorry to 
find the French army in too broken a condi¬ 
tion to surprise the Prussian force on its way 
to the capital. There was one favorable 
moment for such an attempt, and military 


Age 57] 


A NEW KING 


217 


ardor awoke again in Lafayette’s mind at the 
sight of the enemy marching upon Paris for 
the second time within a year. 

They entered the city, and Napoleon, who 
had lingered too long in France to make his 
escape now, gave himself up to the captain of 
an English ship of war. He was banished to 
Saint Helena. The Assembly was dissolved 
on the 18th of July. Lafayette was therefore 
free to return to Lagrange. 


VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES 

Louis the Eighteenth was replaced on the 
throne of France, and the nation had again 
to bear the mortification of giving up some 
forts and pulling others to pieces. It was a 
bitter thing to the French to see other 
nations triumphing over them; but rest was 
needed, at last, after all their efforts. 

Whatever might be the troubles that dis¬ 
turbed France, or however great Lafayette’s 
disappointment in the form of government, 
Lagrange was always to him a haven of 
peace, content, and happiness. He lived on 
the best terms with his poor neighbors, who 
thought of him as the country gentleman 
interested in his farm, and not as the “hero 
of two worlds,” the soldier and public man. 
Here he received his guests with the greatest 
cordiality, and enjoyed the liveliness and 
affection of his grandchildren, who were edu- 
218 


Age 61] VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES 219 

cated chiefly by their mothers, and were con¬ 
stantly to be seen in the drawing-room with 
their grandfather. 

Many distinguished persons, artists, lit¬ 
erary men, and all foreigners who were lib¬ 
eral in politics, came to see him at Lagrange, 
so that his quiet life was never a dull one. 
An English lady, who spent several days in 
his house in 1818, describes the pleasant con¬ 
versations in which Lafayette was sometimes 
led to speak of the scenes and people he had 
seen in past years, his cordial, cheerful man¬ 
ners, and the happiness of the family. 
“Charming days, more charming evenings, 
flow on in a perpetual stream of enjoyment 
here.” In the mornings Madame George 
Lafayette, the Countess Lasteyrie, and the 
Countess Maubourg, were “busy with the 
children and did not appear.” The visitors 
amused themselves, or were with the Gen¬ 
eral, unless his occupations prevented. Then 
came a walk or drive,—sometimes a long 
excursion. After dinner, at four o’clock, con¬ 
versation; in the evening, music, or talking. 

She speaks thus of the grandchildren’s 
education: “Before breakfast I find all the 
young people at their easels, painting from 
models, in the ante-room; then they go to 


220 


LAFAYETTE 


[1818 


their music* (there are three pianos); then 
they all turn out into the beautiful park for 
two hours, and then resume their studies 
for two hours more. But I never saw such 
happy children; they live without restraint, 
and, except while at their lessons, are always 
with the grown people. If the little ones are 
noisy, they are sent into the ante-room; but 
their gentleness and good conduct are 
astonishing, considering, too, that eleven of 
the twelve are always with us.” 

It seems as if they must have inherited 
something of their grandfather’s sunny 
temper. 

This very pleasant mode of life was some¬ 
times exchanged for a long visit in Paris. 
Lafayette was chosen deputy to the Assem¬ 
bly of 1818, and began to work with all his 
old diligence. The national expenses for the 
army, navy, and public education; the law 
of elections; the forming of the National 
Guard, and the freedom of the press, were 
the principal subjects which occupied him. 
His speeches were marked by his usual inde¬ 
pendence and openness. His enemies were 
numerous and powerful, and some attempts 
were made to accuse him of a share in secret 

* A music-master and an English governess lived in the 
house. 



Age 64] VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES 221 

plots against the government. But such 
efforts failed, although Lafayette was con¬ 
nected for a short time with a secret society. 
He was too frank and open in his nature, and 
his views were too moderate, ever to satisfy 
politicians who work in underhand ways. 

In the summer of 1824, Lafayette 
accepted the invitation of President Monroe 
to visit the United States. Congress voted to 
send a man-of-war for him; but he declined 
it, and came in a packet-ship, landing at New 
York on the 16th of August. He was accom¬ 
panied by his son and his secretary, M. 
Levasseur. From New York he proceeded 
to Boston, and as far north as Portsmouth, 
N. H.; then returned to New York, and went 
south to Yorktown, Washington, Charleston, 
and New Orleans; then came up the river 
Mississippi, and through Kentucky, Ohio, 
and New York, to Boston again, in order to 
be present at the laying of the corner-stone 
of Bunker Hill Monument, which took place 
June 17, 1825. He then went once more to 
the south to take leave of his friends in Vir¬ 
ginia, and sailed from the Potomac on the 
8th of September, 1825. Thus he travelled 
through almost every state in the Union, and 
saw many a flourishing town where there had 


222 LAFAYETTE [1824 

been an unbroken forest in 1777, or even at 
his last visit in 1784. 

It is impossible to describe the welcome 
the nation gave to its guest. From the 
moment of his landing until his embarkation, 
there was a constant succession of proces¬ 
sions, speeches, public dinners, military 
reviews, balls, fireworks, rejoicings of every 
kind at every place. Old soldiers of the 
Revolution were collected to see him, school- 
children often formed a part of the proces¬ 
sions, private houses were thrown open, com¬ 
mittees from one town escorted him to the 
next, barouches with four or six horses met 
him everywhere for his entrance into the 
towns, all the streets and houses were 
crowded with eager faces, wherever he went 
the day of his arrival was celebrated as a holi¬ 
day, and the whole United States showed 
their joy at receiving him. 

No such event is recorded in history. It 
was most extraordinary that the man who 
devoted himself in his early youth to help¬ 
ing a nation in the days of poverty and weak¬ 
ness should live to come back to a new gen¬ 
eration of men, living under the government 
which he had helped to establish, and pros¬ 
perous in every way. 


Age 66] VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES 223 

No pains were spared to please him and 
to do him honor. On his first arrival at New 
York, the Governor, Mayor, and other impor¬ 
tant persons, went to meet him in a steam¬ 
boat, followed by several others, two of 
which towed up the ship Cadmus, that had 
brought him over. 

In Boston he received the highest honors, 
and went to Commencement at Cambridge, 
and also to hear the oration before the Phi 
Beta Kappa Society. The church was 
crowded with people more eager to see him 
than to hear the performances, and the 
whole audience listened breathlessly when 
the orator, Mr. Everett, turning to him, 
addressed him in these words: “Hail, Friend 
of our Fathers! welcome to our shores! 
Enjoy a triumph which is reserved neither 
for conquerors nor monarchs; the assurance 
that here, throughout all America, there is 
not a heart which does not beat with joy and 
gratitude in hearing your name. You have 
already received, and will soon receive the 
greetings of the small number of ardent 
patriots, wise counsellors, intrepid warriors, 
with whom you were associated for the con¬ 
quest of our liberty; but in vain you will look 
around you for those who would have pre¬ 
ferred a single day like this, passed with their 


224 


LAFAYETTE 


[1824 


old companion in arms, to years of life. 

. You will again visit the hospitable 
roof of Mount Vernon; but he whom you 
revered will no longer be on the threshold to 
receive you; his voice, that consoling voice, 
which reached you even in the cell of Olmutz, 
will no more break silence to bid you sit at 
his hearth; but the children of America 
receive you in his name, and cry, ‘Welcome, 
Lafayette! thrice welcome to our land, friend 
of our fathers and our country!’ ” 

On his return to New York a very splen¬ 
did public ball was given to him at Castle 
Garden, a large hall built just on the water’s 
edge, at the foot of the Battery. It was beau¬ 
tifully ornamented; and as the General took 
his seat, what appeared to be a painting in 
front of the gallery was lifted up, and showed 
a transparency with a view of Lagrange, and 
underneath it these words: “His Home.” 
Not only Lafayette, but many a person who 
had never seen Lagrange, was moved. At 
two o’clock in the morning, a steamboat came 
to take him from Castle Garden up the Hud¬ 
son River to West Point. 

At Philadelphia an equal enthusiasm was 
shown, and at Baltimore he was particularly 
touched by being received in Washington’s 


Age 67] VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES 225 

tent, where he found several veterans of the 
war waiting for him. 

His visit to the tomb of Washington was 
private and most solemn. Mr. Custis (Mrs. 
Washington’s grandson) gave him on the 
spot a ring containing Washington’s hair. 

Pleasing and painful memories, of course, 
came crowding upon his mind as he revisited 
the battlegrounds of the Revolution, or the 
places where he had lived, and found himself 
almost alone,—that he had survived his com¬ 
panions. He arrived at Yorktown on the 
19th of October, the anniversary of Lord 
Cornwallis’ surrender, and saw the field 
again white with tents; but this time there 
were no batteries, and the place of the 
redoubt which his troops had stormed was 
marked by a triumphal arch. The names 
of other French heroes besides Lafayette 
were not forgotten in the inscription. A 
review of militia did not exactly recall the 
perils of the siege; and a great public dinner, 
fireworks, &c., closed the day. 

Lafayette went to Monticello to visit Mr. 
Jefferson, whose health was too infirm to 
allow him to take part in any of the festivi¬ 
ties, but who welcomed him heartily to a 
home. And a little rest was very pleasant 
after so much motion and excitement. The 


226 


LAFAYETTE 


[1825 


mere effort of making so many speeches and 
shaking hands with so many strangers would 
have been fatiguing under common circum¬ 
stances ; but Lafayette’s health was perfectly 
good through the year; enjoyment seems to 
have enabled him to bear every exposure. 

At Washington he was received in the 
most respectful manner by the Senate and 
House of Representatives, who voted him a 
present of two hundred thousand dollars and 
a township of land, “in consideration of his 
services and sacrifices in the Revolutionary 
War.” He spent several weeks of the winter 
at the capital, and then proceeded further 
south. 

At Fayetteville, N. C., a town named for 
him, a part of his escort consisted of a troop 
of cavalry that had traveled a hundred and 
fifty miles, a great part of the time in the 
rain, from their homes in the country. 

At Charleston, S. C., he met once more 
Mr. Huger, the faithful friend of Olmutz. 
What a contrast to the time when he had 
mounted Lafayette on horseback, and quietly 
given himself up to the jailers! 

At Savannah, he laid the corner-stones of 
two monuments to General Greene and 
Count Pulaski, both friends of his youthful 
days. On the Chatahoochee River, in 


Age 67] VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES 227 

Georgia, a number of Indians were collected 
to see him, and greeted him with yells as he 
crossed. On his landing they took the horse 
out of the sulky* provided for him, and 
dragged him up the hill, after which they 
entertained him with one of their games at 
ball. Red men and white alike exerted them¬ 
selves to gratify the nation’s guest. 

In going to Louisville, Ky., Lafayette met 
with the only accident which interrupted the 
pleasure of this journey. The steamboat he 
was in struck a snag and was wrecked. No 
lives were lost, but it was impossible to get 
out the luggage; and Lafayette lost six hun¬ 
dred letters, besides the other contents of his 
trunks. 

He accomplished one object on which he 
had set his heart,—that of getting back again 
to Boston in time for the laying of the corner¬ 
stone of Bunker Hill Monument. It was 
fifty years from the day of the battle, and the 
hill was crowded with free, happy New Eng¬ 
landers, who looked back to that hard fight 
as to the first step on the path of liberty. The 
procession was formed as usual, with the 
military, various societies, the Governor, 
Mayor, and guests from a distance. Lafay- 


* A vehicle like a chaise, which holds but one. 



228 


LAFAYETTE 


[1825 


ette’s place was of course a conspicuous one, 
and he was accompanied by ninety-six sur¬ 
vivors of the battle in carriages, and others 
on foot. 

Mr. Webster was the orator of the day, 
and when he addressed Lafayette and this 
band of veterans, they all rose. The interest 
of the scene was very great, and the whole 
ceremony of laying the corner-stone was suc¬ 
cessful. The weather was fine, and Lafayette 
wrote to his family, that afternoon, that he 
had just come from “one of the finest patri¬ 
otic celebrations there could be.” At the 
dinner which was given after the morning’s 
work, his toast was, “Bunker Hill, and the 
sacred resistance to oppression which has 
already freed the American Hemisphere!— 
The toast on the jubilee of the next half- 
century will be, Europe free!” 

Towards the close of the summer, there 
came some painful farewells to be said to his 
American friends. In Virginia he took leave 
of ex-Presidents Jefferson, Madison and 
Monroe. The election of a new President 
had taken place during the past year, and 
Lafayette pleased himself with the hope that 
his presence had softened a little the harsh¬ 
ness of party spirit. The new President, Mr. 
John Quincy Adams, invited him to dine at 



The laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill Monument 


229 
































































Age 68] VISIT TO THE UNITED STATES 231 

the White House on his birthday (Sept. 6th), 
with a large party. It is contrary to custom 
to give toasts at the President’s table, but on 
this occasion Mr. Adams rose and said, “The 
22d of February and the 6th of September: 
Birthdays of Washington and Lafayette!’’ 
The General, much moved at hearing his 
name thus associated with Washington’s, 
gave, in return, “The 4th of July: Birthday 
of liberty in both hemispheres!” 

The next day, September 7th, Lafayette 
received and answered a farewell address 
from the President, and then, followed by a 
long procession, went to the steamboat which 
waited to take him on board the frigate 
Brandywine. 

It was a solemn parting; for few of the 
persons there present could hope to see 
Lafayette in France, and he was too old a 
man to think of ever coming to America 
again. The visit had been a happy time in 
his life, and one that can never be repeated 
in the history of the United States, 


A HAPPY HOME 

After all his enjoyment, however, he was 
glad indeed to find himself at home at 
Lagrange, where he was welcomed with a 
“fete,” a few days after his arrival. The 
house was decorated, and all his neighbors 
danced merrily in the park. Young girls 
came to see him and to sing a few little 
verses, which is a French fashion of rejoicing, 
and perhaps quite as good a one as the 
American style of making speeches. 

During Lafayette’s absence, Louis the 
Eighteenth had died and was succeeded by 
his brother, Charles the Tenth; but the sys¬ 
tem of government was not much changed. 
In fact, Charles the Tenth was still more 
attached to the old aristocratic system than 
his brother. He said, himself, “Lafayette 
and I are the only two men in France who 
have remained perfectly firm in their prin¬ 
ciples through the Revolution.” 

232 


Age 69] 


A HAPPY HOME 


233 


At this time Greece was in a state of 
revolt against the Turks; Spain and Portugal 
were at least half way towards revolutions; 
Italy was far from being quiet; General 
Bolivar was laboring to make Columbia a 
republic, and Mexico claimed some interest 
from the lovers of freedom. Lafayette cor¬ 
responded with the various generals, and 
Lagrange was always open to unfortunate 
politicians who were banished from their 
native country, wherever that might be. No 
limits of sea or mountains ever shut off his 
sympathy from a people who loved freedom 
and he was ready to give any help in his 
power to those who were resisting oppres¬ 
sion. 

He seems never to have known fatigue, 
either of body or mind. He was again elected 
to the Assembly in 1827, and took up all his 
habits of business. The care of so large a 
farm as Lagrange would have been thought 
by many people occupation enough for a man 
of his age. It included about five hundred 
French acres of land, partly in plantations, 
and partly in meadows for sheep and cattle. 
Lafayette took great pleasure in collecting 
fine animals, and he had many presents of 
good specimens. All his barns and sheep- 
folds were kept in the neatest manner, and 


234 


LAFAYETTE 


[1827 


the accounts of the produce and expenses of 
the farm were put down in large books, as 
accurately as the accounts of a merchant’s 
business. It was not intended for a show 
place, and the chief ornament was the beau¬ 
tiful park, and the long, shady avenue which 
led to the house. 

This was an old castle, but comfortable 
enough for a modern family. Five towers* 
were the most striking part of it to a 
stranger, as he approached; one in the mid¬ 
dle of the house, two at the end of each wing. 
Around three sides of the house was a moat, 
or deep ditch, full of clear water, in which 
fishes might be seen. Large weeping willows 
and other fine trees hung over the edge. On 
the fourth side it had been filled up, and the 
front of the chateau looked out on a smooth 
lawn, with a few flowers growing near the 
house. In the lower story of the house were 
a small chapel, a large dining-room with a 
stone roof, a hall, kitchens, etc.; above, the 
drawing-rooms, the General’s private apart¬ 
ments, and the rooms used by the various 
families and the guests. 

Lafayette’s own habits were very simple 
and regular. He slept usually but seven 

* One of them was covered with ivy, planted by Mr. Fox, a 
very distinguished Englishman. 



Age 69] 


A HAPPY HOME 


235 


hours, and was called by his servant at five 
o’clock. He read or wrote in his own apart¬ 
ment until the ten o’clock breakfast, after 
which he always went about the farm for 
two hours at least, then returned to his writ¬ 
ing until dinner-time. In the evening, if 
there were visitors, he remained in the draw¬ 
ing-room, talking; if the family were alone, 
he sometimes went back to his own occupa¬ 
tions,—but he reappeared to bid his children 
good night. 

His management of his farm served as an 
example to his poor neighbors. The peasants 
laughed when they first saw his large plan¬ 
tation of apple trees; but by and by, when 
they found the cider from Lagrange was 
good and sold well, they also began to set 
out orchards. 

His neighbors, and even strangers, were 
allowed to walk freely on his grounds, and 
all visitors at the house were at liberty to 
amuse themselves with walks, boating and 
fishing on the pond, or anything else they 
preferred. The spirit of genuine kindness 
governed the whole family, from the General 
down to his youngest grandchild, and made 
them a great blessing to the neighborhood. 
The physician of the place had the best 
means of knowing their charities, for he was 


236 


LAFAYETTE 


[1827 


often sent to visit the sick at their expense. 
He says: “All Lafayette’s moments at 
Lagrange resemble each other, for they are 
all marked by good feelings or kind actions.” 

Every week two hundred pounds of bread 
were given out to the poor, of the same qual¬ 
ity as that used at Lafayette’s table; and in 
times of scarcity the quantity was increased 
to six hundred pounds, and soup was added. 
In 1817 there was a famine, and the distress 
was great near Lagrange. Seven hundred 
persons might have been seen at the chateau 
every day,—they received soup and bread, 
but the supplies fell short before the end of 
the season. A family council was held, and 
Lafayette proposed that they should all go to 
his old home at Chavaniac, in Auvergne, and 
thus leave for the poor what they usually 
consumed themselves. This plan was joy¬ 
fully agreed to and carried out by the family. 

During the cholera season of 1832, Lafay¬ 
ette and his son and daughters devoted them¬ 
selves to the care of the sick. His son 
brought down a physician from Paris. Medi¬ 
cines, ice, blankets, flannel, everything in 
the house was used for them, and by day and 
by night the family gave their whole strength 
and efforts to relieving pain, and curing the 
disease, if possible. The peasants, who had 


Age 71] 


A HAPPY HOME 


237 


at first been so frightened that they deserted 
all who were attacked, took courage from 
such an example, ventured into the houses, 
and nursed their own relations. 

Was it strange that, after many years of 
such thoughtful kindness, the country people 
loved him? 

The house was a perfect museum of pres¬ 
ents. Swords from the United States and 
the National Guard; busts and portraits of 
Washington; rings containing the hair of 
celebrated people; flags, boxes made from 
old or famous trees, canes, silver vases, por¬ 
traits of patriots of all nations, Indian weap¬ 
ons, stuffed birds,—everything which people 
had imagined he might like to keep, had been 
showered upon him. And he had the pleas¬ 
antest way of answering questions upon the 
various parts of his life,—from his acquaint¬ 
ance with the Queen to the habits of the 
Indians. To young people he was almost a 
volume of history. And if a little vanity 
mingled with his frankness in speaking of 
what he had done, it could be easily excused 
in one whose services had been so great. 

In the summer of 1829 Lafayette took a 
little journey in France, which was almost 
the repeating of some of his days in America. 
He went first to Chavaniac, in Auvergne, his 


238 


LAFAYETTE 


[1829 


native place, and thence on to Vizille, near 
Grenoble, to visit one of his granddaughters. 
He received everywhere a public welcome; 
banquets were given to him, followed by 
patriotic speeches; processions escorted him; 
fireworks and illuminations made the nights 
brilliant. 

The Government was displeased with this 
expression of admiration for Lafayette, and 
with the liberal sentiments and wishes he did 
not hesitate to utter; but there was no excuse 
for interfering. 

The king and his son made themselves 
constantly more and more unpopular, by 
doing everything in their power to interrupt 
elections, to restrain the freedom of the press, 
and to blot out all traces of what had been 
gained by the Revolution. The king wished 
to govern alone, and he preferred ministers 
who would allow him his own way in every¬ 
thing. “Where will this end?” asked some 
timid politicians, and Lafayette lived to see 
the end. You might think there was to be 
nothing more in his life but quiet home- 
scenes, and the happiness of being beloved 
and honored in so many places; but a second 
Revolution called his powers once more into 
active use. 


Age 72] 


A HAPPY HOME 


239 


In July, 1830, certain decrees relating to 
elections appeared, which the people of Paris 
decided not to submit to. On the 27th they 
took up arms and began to resist the king’s 
troops. Lafayette was sent for, arrived at 
night, and immediately gave the assistance 
of his name and character to the Parisians 
fighting in the streets. 

The next day the Deputies to the Assem¬ 
bly met, and, after much discussion, decided 
what to do. Some of them proposed merely 
to act as mediators between the king and the 
people, who were taking the Hotel de Ville, 
and having sharp conflicts with the soldiers 
all over the city. Others said it was too late; 
that some committee must take command 
for a few days, and give orders to the party 
that was resisting at the barricades, and that 
the king must go. Lafayette was indignant 
at any delay while his countrymen were 
dying around them with the cry “Vive la 
Liberte !”* on their lips. 

On the 29th he was asked to take com¬ 
mand of the National Guard, which he did 
very cheerfully. His thoughts went back to 
the hopeful days of 1789; and when he went 
up the great staircase of the Hotel de Ville, 


♦It is not easy to translate these words. “Hurrah for Lib¬ 
erty!” means almost the same thing. 



240 


LAFAYETTE 


[1830 


he said to some person who offered to show 
him the way, “I know every step.” He had 
not been there for nearly forty years. 

On the third day the fighting came to an 
end. Lafayette gave his orders to the 
National Guard with as much ease and 
interest as he had in 1789. He was proud to 
command the Parisians. In a letter written 
on the 30th, he says, “The people of Paris 
have covered themselves with glory; and 
when I say the people, I mean those who are 
called the lowest classes of society, who this 
time have been the first;—for the courage, 
the intelligence, the devotion and virtue of 
the citizens have been admirable. 

We are admirably barricaded. If the enemy 
should venture again into the streets, he 
would have cause to repent of it.” 

On the 31st the Deputies decided to invite 
the Duke of Orleans—the son of the wicked 
Duke of Orleans, who was cousin to Louis 
XVI., Louis XVIII., and Charles X.—to be 
Lieutenant-General of France. He had 
fought under the Republican flag nearly forty 
years before, and was believed to be far more 
reasonable and sensible than the king’s sons. 
He came to visit Lafayette at the Hotel de 
Ville. Proclamations containing his name 
had been torn down, and the immense crowd 



Lafayette gave him a tricolor flag, and led him to one of the windows. 


241 



















Age 72] 


A HAPPY HOME 


243 


which filled the square did not show him any 
favor as he rode along. Lafayette received 
him at the foot of the staircase; they went 
up together, and the proclamation announc¬ 
ing him as Lieutenant-General was coldly 
received. Lafayette held out his hand to the 
duke, gave him a tricolor flag, and led him 
to one of the windows. The crowd below 
instantly cheered them. 

Lafayette was very anxious to find out 
clearly the opinions of the duke, who was to 
hold so important a position, and returned 
the visit quickly. He said to the duke: “You 
know I am a republican, and I think the con¬ 
stitution of the United States the most per¬ 
fect one there has ever been.” “I think as 
you do,” answered the duke; “it is impossible 
to have passed two years in America and not 
be of that opinion; but do you think it fitting 
for us to adopt it, in the situation of France, 
and considering the general opinion?” “No,” 
said Lafayette; “what the French want 
to-day is a throne surrounded with repub¬ 
lican institutions,—entirely republican.” “So 
I understand it,” replied the duke. 

During this time the royal troops were 
collected near Rambouillet, about twenty-five 
miles southwest of Paris, where the king 
waited, uncertain what to do. A large body 


244 


LAFAYETTE 


[1830 


of the National Guard set out for Versailles, 
intending to keep on to Rambouillet; but the 
king, hearing of their march, agreed to give 
up the diamonds of the crown, and to go to 
Cherbourg to take passage for England. 

The Duke of Orleans invited Lafayette to 
take command of the National Guard of the 
whole kingdom. This proposal, although 
like the one which he had prevented in 1790, 
he now thought it best to accept. 

On the 9th of August the Duke of Orleans 
was invited to fill the vacant throne. He 
agreed to the conditions the Assembly pro¬ 
posed, and became King under the name of 
Louis Philippe, first King of the French. 

Lafayette gave the following account of 
this short Revolution: “The victory of the 
people has been as admirable, rapid, and com¬ 
plete as the most romantic imagination could 
have dreamt. Tuesday we were breakfasting 
at Lagrange, receiving the Moniteur* con¬ 
taining the decrees; you can imagine that I 
did not dine there. They began to fight the 
same evening; the two next days there were 
combats, barricades, heroic actions, every¬ 
where. I was able to establish myself at the 
Hotel de Ville, which had been taken and 


* A Paris newspaper. 



Age 72] 


A HAPPY HOME 


245 


retaken; and the royal family, crossing 
France without receiving the least insult, are 
to embark to-day (Aug. 12). The people 
have done the whole. Courage, intelligence, 
disinterestedness, clemency towards the con¬ 
quered,—everything has been incredibly fine. 
How different from even the first moments 
of ’89!” 


THE OLD SOLDIER 

Lafayette continued to take great pleas¬ 
ure in arranging the National Guard, which 
the king often reviewed, and in which he 
expressed much satisfaction. He devoted to 
it all the time which could be spared from his 
duties as Deputy. 

His orders were full of spirit, and it 
pleased the people to see this veteran general 
of seventy-two as active in his habits as any 
young officer. He was always greeted with 
cheers and many signs of favor when he 
appeared on public occasions. 

He had been in the habit of receiving his 
friends and strangers at his house one eve¬ 
ning of every week, and after this revolution 
his rooms were much fuller than before. He 
then put on his uniform, and in many little 
ways showed much of the spirit of his early 
days. His manners were always cordial, and 

246 


Age 73] 


THE OLD SOLDIER 


247 


his face readily lighted up with smiles. He 
was tall and had a good figure; but his face 
was plain, though his complexion preserved 
its freshness to the end of his life. 

The company on these occasions was not 
select, but often included many distinguished 
persons. Americans especially enjoyed them, 
as almost all nations might be seen there. 
Poles, Greeks, Spaniards, Italians, Portu¬ 
guese, and Irish patriots, met on friendly 
ground under Lafayette’s roof. 

The General was particularly fond of 
going to the dinner given by the Americans in 
Paris every Fourth of July. He would some¬ 
times come up from Lagrange for the pur¬ 
pose, and always had a patriotic toast ready. 

In December the Guard was called out in 
great force during the trial of Charles the 
Tenth’s ministers, for having ordered the 
troops to fire during the three days of July. 
Order was maintained by great efforts; for 
the crowd who filled the streets were not 
those who had fought at the barricades, but 
the dregs of Paris. Lafayette was, however, 
respected by them, and did not hesitate to go 
freely among the groups and disperse them. 
It was expected that the ministers would be 
condemned to death, but their sentence was 
perpetual imprisonment. 


243 


LAFAYETTE 


[1830 


He received from the king most affec¬ 
tionate notes of thanks for his own services 
and those of the Guard. 

It was therefore an unpleasant surprise to 
him to find that on the 24th of December a 
law was passed forbidding the appointment 
of any such officer as Commandant-general, 
and allowing only very small divisions of the 
Guard to have a commandant. 

Under such a law Lafayette could not 
hold his office, and he refused the title of hon¬ 
orary Commandant which was offered him 
as a compensation. The king accepted his 
resignation with many words of regret. 

In the Assembly Lafayette was soon 
engaged in discussions respecting expenses, 
nobility, elections, and above all the treat¬ 
ment of foreign nations. The Revolution of 
July had been a sort of summons to the dis¬ 
contented all over Europe to rise against the 
governments. In Belgium, Spain, Switzer¬ 
land, Poland, and the north of Italy, there 
were either revolutions or attempts at them, 
and Lafayette wanted the French people to 
sympathize with and help all who were 
struggling to be free. It seemed to him only 
right that those who had used barricades to 
secure their own liberty should hold out their 
hands to their brethren in other countries. 


Age 73] 


THE OLD SOLDIER 


249 


When the revolutions failed, he desired that 
France should be a place of refuge for all the 
unfortunate. 

But Lafayette was destined always 
throughout his long life to stand alone. His 
speeches were of course listened to with 
respect on account of his age, but he seldom 
saw one of his plans carried out. The king 
and his ministers were afraid of being 
dragged into wars if they adopted his views, 
and showed themselves rather more attached 
to the principles of the last reign than to 
what Lafayette thought the true meaning of 
the Revolution of July, 1830. 

The activity of his mind was more sur¬ 
prising at his age than that of his body. 
Nothing that concerned France was in any 
way a matter of indifference to him, and he 
was as ready with a speech about a new law 
as about the treatment of exiles. 

The troubles of the summer of 1832 
distressed him much. At the funeral of 
a Deputy and distinguished general, M. 
Lamarque, some person unfortunately car¬ 
ried in the procession a red flag with the red 
cap of liberty above it, and the motto Liberty 
or Death. These words and the cap were 
associated in the minds of many Frenchmen 
with the horrors of the Reign of Terror. 


230 


LAFAYETTE 


[1832 


Some wreaths were thrown upon the flag, 
and about the tomb there was more excite¬ 
ment than Lafayette liked to see. Some 
addresses were made; he said a few words, 
and withdrew. Not being able to find his 
carriage, he hired a vehicle to go home in; 
but the crowd, principally young men, took 
out the horses and insisted on dragging him 
home. They urged him violently to give the 
signal for an attack by the people, which he 
refused to do. 

The troops were called out, fighting 
began, and for two days Paris was bristling 
with bayonets. The king appeared on horse¬ 
back, and ordered out the cannon, in order, 
as he said, “to put an end to it sooner”; some 
persons were arrested, a few newspapers 
stopped, and at last Paris was declared to be 
in a state of siege.* 

Lafayette thought a great deal of this 
show of power very unnecessary, but blamed 
severely the violence of the young men of the 
liberal party, and the bringing forward of the 
odious red cap. 

Another event which gave him much pain 
was the arrest at Lagrange of a Mr. Llewel, 
a distinguished Pole whom he had invited to 


* Under the government of officers, just as if there were an 
enemy’s army all around it. 



Age 74] 


THE OLD SOLDIER 


251 


his house after an order from the ministers 
banished him from Paris. It was suspected 
that Llewel had again shown himself in the 
capital, and for this offense he was arrested. 

Lafayette was faithful to his Polish 
friends at all times. The last speech he made 
in the Assembly was in support of petitions 
relating to Polish refugees. 

His last appearance in public was at the 
funeral of a Deputy, M. Dulong, in January, 
1833. He was on foot for several hours, and 
was, as usual, much gratified by the expres¬ 
sions of the people. He seemed tired after 
his return, and was soon taken ill. He bore 
confinement to the house patiently, though 
he wished to be at his place in the Assembly, 
and was disappointed at not being allowed 
to see the many friends who came to inquire 
after his health. He amused himself with 
reading newspapers and pamphlets, writing 
or dictating letters, and talking, when he was 
not in pain, of America,* or his friends, or 
anything except his own condition. He 
regained sufficient strength to drive out, and 
his family hoped that he might recover, or at 

* In many trifles he showed his love for everything Amer¬ 
ican. When he was ordered to take a little Madeira wine, 
“Give me that from Lagrange,” he said; “it will do me more 
good.” It had been sent him from the United States. 



252 


LAFAYETTE 


[1834 


least live comfortably for some time. But on 
the 9th of May he took cold from exposure 
to a thunder-shower during his drive, and 
from that day there was no hope. The physi¬ 
cians who attended him proposed consulting 
others, and one of them said to Lafayette 
that they felt responsible, not only to his 
family, but to the French nation, of whom he 
was the father. “Yes,” said the General, with 
a smile, “their father on condition that they 
never follow a syllable of my advice.” 

He submitted cheerfully to everything his 
physicians ordered, and was most gentle and 
grateful to all who waited on him. 

One of his last letters, dated May 1st, was 
on the subject of the emancipation* of 
negroes. He spoke hopefully of its progress 
in the United States, beginning with Mary¬ 
land and Kentucky; congratulated the Eng¬ 
lish on their management in their colonies, 
and regretted what had been done in the 
French ones; he also expressed warm 
approval of Liberia. 

On the 20th of May, without having had 
much suffering, Lafayette died peacefully. 
Just before he drew his last breath, he opened 
his eyes and fixed them on his children who 


Setting free. 



Age 76] FRANCE MUCH CHANGED 253 

stood about his bed, as if to look the farewell 
he was no longer able to speak. 

Their grief can be imagined at the loss of 
a father so illustrious, so loving and tender. 
Mourning was not confined to his own fam¬ 
ily, but was shared by an immense circle of 
friends and admirers. 

His funeral procession was long, and the 
streets were lined with the National Guard. 
After services in the Church of the Assump¬ 
tion, he was buried, as he had desired to be, 
in the cemetery of Picpus, by his wife’s side. 
Lamentations were general, especially from 
the poor. One person, who seemed to be a 
stranger, observed that this must have been 
a very rich person, who had so many people 
at his funeral. “No,” answered a laboring 
man, “but he gave us everything; the French 
people are not ungrateful, and they are here 
to thank him.” Another poor man endeav¬ 
ored to make his way to the bier, to walk 
directly behind it. “Don’t you see,” said one 
of the National Guards, “that none but the 
family are admitted there?” “We all belong 
to his family,” replied the man, “for he loved 
us all as his children.” He was allowed to 
pass. 

It was fitting that Lafayette’s funeral 
train should pass through the streets of Paris, 


234 


LAFAYETTE 


[1834 


the scene of his greatest successes and hard¬ 
est labors. He did not obtain his heart’s 
desire; France is not to-day what he would 
wish to see her; and if we measure the value 
of a life by its success, Lafayette’s might be 
pronounced a failure. But if we look deeper, 
we shall see that his country owes to the 
Revolution of 1789 some social and political 
blessings; and turning to Lafayette’s own 
character, we cannot fail to be impressed 
with the beauty of his generous, disinter¬ 
ested, enthusiastic, loving, upright nature. 
He was proof against many of the tempta¬ 
tions other men yielded to, and in his frank 
simplicity went through the changes and 
trials of a most varied life, always deserving 
the praise of seeking “whatsoever things are 
honest.” 



















































































































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